What You Deserve
by jessalyn78
Summary: How will Wade react when Zoe really needs him? Will he prove himself ready to "be there for her in every way?" Warning: This is story has an ooc George, so it definitely isn't for George Tucker fans, "Zeorge" fans. Takes place during 2X21, after George's breakup with Tansy.
1. Chapter 1

Watching Tansy walk away for good was like a knife through George Tucker's chest. He loved her. He really loved her, but he was losing her, her and that stupid dog he had grown so fond of. He wasn't really sure if he made the right decision choosing Bluebell over Tansy, after all Tansy may have been the one. But Bluebell was such a huge part of who he was. He could never really leave.

He thought about going to the Rammer Jammer, but he really wasn't in the mood to see Lemon and be reminded of his last failed relationship, so he got a beer out of his refrigerator and sat on his bed.

As the night went on he drank more and more and as he did he got angrier and angrier. Angrier at himself, angrier at Tansy, but mostly angrier at Zoe. Good Lord was he pissed at Zoe Hart.

The words Tansy said played through his head.

_"I just can't be in the same place as Zoe Hart."_

_"As long as we're in Bluebell she'll be around, and you say you don't have feelings for her and you probably believe that's true, but… I don't."_

If Zoe had just kept her mouth shut about her feelings for him none of this would have ever happened. He would still have Tansy and he would still be happy. Actually, if Zoe Hart had never come to town in the first place he'd be happily married to Lemon Breeland. Just why did she feel the need to ruin every happy ending he had a shot at? In the end she never picked him, it would always be Wade Kinsella for Zoe Hart but for some reason she just couldn't stop breaking his heart.

"Well no more" he said as he stood to his feet. He was going to have a talk with Zoe, he was going to make sure she never screwed anything up for him again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zoe took a deep breath as she entered her bedroom. She felt awful; more awful than she ever had in her life. She had made a complete and total ass of herself at that freaking prom- George hated her, Tansy _hated_ her, and everyone who was in that gym knew what a crazy mess she really was. Not to mention she still felt like hell over the breakup with Wade. Everything was a mess.

She calmed down by telling herself she'd figure out how to fix everything in the morning, but the truth was she knew she'd never figure out how to fix the mess that was her life.

She thought that getting some air might help her, that and drinking herself stupid, so she grabbed a bottle of vodka and a blanket and headed outside but before she could make her way out the door she was startled by a loud pounding at the door.

"Hello?" she asked as she opened it. "George" she gasped.

"Hey" he said angrily as he walked inside. "I want to talk to you."

"Okay" she said nervously as her cheeks reddened slightly. She really wasn't looking forward to getting wrung out for the second time of the night. She knew she was out of line telling George she loved him while he was with Tansy, but she had just been trying to be honest about her feelings.

"Tansy dumped me" he seethed.

"I- I'm sorry" Zoe replied. "I tried talking to her tonight, I told her that she was the one you wanted."

"Yeah, do me favor will you? Don't talk to anyone for me ever again. Clearly you suck at it."

"George, I'm sorry" Zoe said shakily. "I never meant to ruin this for you."

"Really? Because I think you did. What the hell were you thinking showing up tonight?"

"I don't know!" she yelled as she threw her hands up. "I don't know, ok? I'm sorry. I know I screwed things up for you, I know I put my foot in my mouth, I know I made an ass of myself. I never meant for any of this to happen, I was just trying to…"

"Just trying to what?" he interrupted.

"Be happy" she answered sheepishly. "Since Wade I've just felt so terrible all the time, and I was just trying to fix it!"

"You are so damn selfish, you know that?" he scoffed. "You'd rather trash someone else's relationship than be single for five minutes!"

"George, I just wanted to tell you the way I felt. I was just trying to be honest, I thought maybe you felt the same way…"

"That explains the other day, but why did you show up at the prom? I already told you I wasn't interested."

"I met this guy online, and I knew he'd be there…"

This made George even more angry, in fact he was pretty sure that he'd never been so angry in his entire life. Zoe hadn't even been there to see him, she was there to see another guy! For someone in love she had certainly moved on pretty quickly. He took a steadying breath before speaking again.

"That guy you were dancing with?" he asked through gritted teeth.

She nodded as her eyes staid fixed on the floor. "He turned out to be a jerk" she shrugged.

"Good" he scoffed.

"Good?" Zoe asked mystified.

"It's what you deserve Zoe" he added bitterly. "You deserve a jerk, you deserve everything bad that comes your way."

"What?" Zoe repeated. "George…"

"Shut up" he interrupted angrily. "You have caused me nothing but trouble and heartache since you blew into town, you know that? You got me to fall for you, trashed my relationship for Lemon, picked Wade over me, and now you've chased Tansy away!"

"I- I'm sorry" she said through tears. "I never meant to hurt you. I- I love you."

This left George even more enraged. Zoe didn't love him. Why did she want to keep screwing with his mind? Why couldn't she just leave him the hell alone. Before he realized what he was doing he lifted his arm up and struck her in the face. She made a loud noise as she hit the floor and it snapped George out of the trance he was in. He had just hit a woman. He never imagined himself as the type of man that could do that. He felt an overwhelming sense of guilt before something occurred to him- Zoe Hart had driven him to do this, this was her fault too. He couldn't even recognize himself and it was all because of her.

"Don't say that!" he yelled loudly. "Don't tell me you love me because it's a damn lie!"

Zoe tried to say something, but all that came out was a loud sob. She laid on the floor completely stunned. George had hit her. George. George her friend. George who she loved.

"Get up" he said as he pulled her by the arm to her feet.

She struggled to pull away and shield her face, but she felt so much weaker than him.

"Stop your crying" he said as he threw her back onto the floor and kicked her. "Shut up! No one here feels sorry for you Zoe, no one here cares!"

She made a desperate attempt to crawl away but he quickly followed after her.

"You deserve this Zoe" he said angrily. "In fact, you deserve worse than this!"

"George" she whimpered as she lifted her bruised face and looked up at him. "Please."

"Oh God" he gasped as he looked into her tear-filled eyes. All of his anger melted away and was replaced with a different feeling. He felt awful, a hundred times worse than he did after the first time he hit her. She looked so desperate, so scared, and vulnerable. She was hurt, and _he_ was the one who did it. "Oh God, what am I doing?" he said urgently as he knelt down next to her. "Zoe" he said softly as he placed his hand on her arm gently.

Zoe recoiled from his touch and crawled further into the corner of her bedroom.

"Zoe" he said as his voice broke. "I- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened, I got so angry."

"No" she cried harder as she pushed herself closer into the wall. She wished she could disappear completely.

"Zoe" he begged, but he wasn't sure for what. He wanted to call her an ambulance, but he knew that he'd basically be calling the police on himself. There wasn't anything he could do to make her feel better, but couldn't leave her like this….

Zoe tried to stop crying, but she just couldn't. She had never been hit by a man before in her life. She felt so helpless, and completely at his mercy, and he had hurt her, badly. And this was George. George Tucker. Her George Tucker. She loved him, and he hated her. Hated her enough to beat the hell out of her.

"What can I do?" he asked shakily.

"Leave" she answered quietly, hoping her answer wouldn't draw even more of his wrath. "Please" she added softly.

"Okay" he said hesitantly. "But, you should get checked out, you might have a concussion" the words felt so bizarre as the came out of his mouth, being the good guy came naturally for him but this time he wasn't a good guy. He was the guy who had just beaten up a woman; he was the reason for that look on Zoe's face.

As he walked away, Zoe struggled to stand to her feet. She wasn't really sure what she was going to do next. She needed help, but she was too embarrassed to tell anyone what happened. Besides, who would believe her? This was George Tucker, everyone in town loved him. No one would believe that George hit a woman, Zoe wouldn't even have believed it if someone had told her before this.

She tried her best to calm her sobs as she walked unsteadily to her bathroom. After all, she was a doctor, she could figure out how to help herself. She gasped as she saw her reflection in the mirror for the first time. She prepared herself to see bruises, but her face was so swollen already. She knew it would only get worse. She touched her face softly, but quickly winced. God, this hurt like hell, if she ever had a battered woman as a patient again she would be much more sympathetic. Then it hit her- she was a battered woman she was a victim.

George's words came back to her _"You deserve this Zoe. In fact, you deserve worse than this!"_

He had been so ruthless, so angry.

She ran her hand over the side of her body where she had been kicked. She wasn't sure if she had any broken ribs, but she knew there wasn't much she could do for that anyway. Overall, her wounds all seemed fairly superficial. She just needed rest, rest and to forget about all of her problems. But she didn't feel safe in her room anymore. She had just been attacked a couple a feet away from where she was standing, it didn't feel safe. She thought she might feel safer at Lavon's, he'd be home soon and that would keep George away. He could give Lavon and Annabeth some story about how she'd got in an accident or something if they'd ask.

She looked around and when she didn't see any sign of George she began to run as fast as she could.

"Whoa" she heard a voice call out.

Wade was the last person she wanted to see, well- almost the last person…

"Doc, where's the fire?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked shakily as she stared at the ground. It was dark out, and her hair was covering her face she knew Wade couldn't see her bruises. She just had to stop him from getting suspicious for a minute and then she could get away.

"Why are you taking off like a bat out of hell?"

Zoe shrugged. She wanted to avoid talking out of fear that the shakiness in her voice would give her away.

"Doc?" Wade asked as he moved closer to her. "What's the matter? Someone else get voted prom queen?" He was trying to lighten the mood by making a joke, but the truth was that the way Zoe was acting was scaring the hell out of him.

Zoe rolled her eyes. Figures Wade would tease her now. "Look Wade" she sighed. "I've had a really bad night, do you think you could just leave me alone?"

"Hey" he said gently as he placed his hand on her arm.

It reminded Zoe of the way George had tried to comfort her after he had beaten her, and before she could think she jerked away violently. She lost her balance and fell to the ground, landing on her sore ribs.

As she screamed out in pain, Wade quickly knelt to the ground.

"Doc?" he asked concerned. "Oh my God" he gasped as he finally got a look at her face. "What-what happened to you?"

"Nothing" she muttered as she sat up and tried to gather her wits.

"Oh my God" he repeated as he looked at her even closer. "Someone hit you!" he yelled angrily.

"No" she answered shakily. "No, I just fell. I-"

"Walked into a door?" he scoffed.

"I'm fine" she sighed as she struggled to stand to her feet.

"Zoe, who the hell did this?" he asked he subconsciously formed his hands into tight fists.

"No one" she said as she struggled not to cry again. "Wade, please just drop this."

There was no way Wade was going to drop this, but for the moment he was willing to let it go. Zoe looked like a mess. She was bloodied and bruised, her makeup was smeared, and he could tell she was about to fall apart at any second.

"Come here" he said softly as he took his sweater off and wrapped it around her arms.

"What?" she asked as she looked around disoriented.

"Shh" he comforted her. "It's okay Zoe, I'm going to take care of you. I got you now, it's okay."

Zoe wasn't sure why, but Wade's words made her feel better. For the first time since she let George into her room she felt safe.

**Please Review if you like it! I'll continue if there's interest. **

**A note to those of you reading my other HOD stories, I fully intend to finish To Make You Feel my Love, Run Right into You, A Wonderful Surprise, and Until You, don't worry. I just crazy busy towards the end of the semester and felt a little unmotivated to write for this fandom after the Zoe/Wade breakup. But I loved the finale, and hopeful for next season!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Why don't you sit down on the bed" Wade said gently as he guided Zoe into his room. "I'll be right back."

"Okay" Zoe answered shakily as she sat. The urge to cry had subsided, she reasoned that this was probably because she was in denial, but she didn't care because it made her feel better. She felt removed from the situation, as if she was watching it happen to someone else. This couldn't have actually happened to her. George couldn't have hit her. He was George.

She was startled out of her thoughts as Wade appeared next to her. She flinched, and Wade resisted the urge to comfort her by putting his hand on her arm, remembering what had happened last time. "Hey" he said softly. "It's okay. It's just me."

His words were comforting because she knew Wade would never hurt her, but then again she had thought the same thing about George.

Wade felt terrible seeing Zoe like this. This wasn't the confident, stubborn, sassy Zoe Hart he had fallen in love with. Someone had broken her spirit, and that made him madder than all hell.

"I'm going to clean you up" he said as he lifted a washcloth and gently placed in on her face. "Tell me if I'm hurting you, and I'll stop."

"You don't have to do that" Zoe shrugged. "I'm okay."

"No you ain't" Wade scoffed.

Zoe looked down at the floor. Wade was right. She wasn't okay, she wasn't even close.

"But you're going to be" Wade added.

"What?" she asked.

"You're going to be okay Zoe. This is going to get better, okay?"

"Yeah" she muttered. She didn't really believe what Wade was saying, but she was willing to placate him. She cringed as Wade wiped blood of a particularly sore spot on her face and Wade jerked back.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked urgently.

"No, you weren't the one who hurt me" she muttered.

"Who did?" he asked desperately.

"Wade-"

"Zoe, who did this? Tell me, please" he begged.

Zoe shook her head as she took a steadying breath. "I don't want to go there tonight Wade, I just want to get some sleep."

"Okay" he sighed as he finished cleaning up her face. At least Zoe was safe now, she was with him and he'd keep her safe. She was pretty banged up, but her nose didn't seem broken and he didn't want to have to put her through seeing a doctor. Then a thought occurred to him. "Hey, are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked desperately.

Zoe nodded sheepishly. "He kicked me" she admitted. "My ribs will probably be bruised, but I don't think they're broken."

"So it was a 'he'" Wade said through gritted teeth. "A guy did this to you."

"Wade, please" she begged. "I don't want to do this now."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry" he said gently as he nervously ran his hands through his hair. "Can I see?"

"See what?"

"Your ribs."

"You just want me to take off my dress" she teased as she smiled at him for a moment.

"You caught me" he answered jokingly.

"Well forget it" she smiled.

Now there was the Zoe he knew and loved. "I just want to make sure you're okay" he said in a sincere tone. "Besides, you can't sleep in that dress anyway." He handed her one of his t-shirts that she used to like sleeping in. He hadn't been able to bring himself to wash it yet because it still kind of smelled like her.

"Fine" she muttered as she stood to her feet. "Can you help unzip me?"

"Of course" he sighed as he moved closer to her. He slowly pulled her zipper down, careful not to touch any part of her that might be injured. She turned around as the dress pooled at her feet and Wade gasped as the full extent of her injuries was finally revealed to him.

"Holy crap" he gasped. He knew it'd be bad, but he didn't think it be quite that bad. She was black and blue all over. He wanted to grab her, and hold her tight and take all of her pain away, but he knew he couldn't do that, just like he couldn't go back in time and protect her from whoever did this.

"It's not as bad as it looks" she said shakily as she quickly grabbed the t-shirt.

"Wait" Wade said as he looked closer at her. "Doc, that looks _really _bad. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure" she nodded. "I am a doctor after all."

"Yeah, but I don't think having yourself as a patient is the best plan."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think someone else should look at you."

"Wade" she begged. "I don't want to go back out tonight, please. I am so tired."

"I'll have someone come here" he said as he helped her pull the t-shirt over her head.

"Who's going to make a house call at this hour?" she scoffed.

"I can think of someone who'd do that for you" he answered gently.

"No" Zoe said firmly. "You are not calling Brick."

"Please Zoe; just let him look at you real quick then you can sleep for as long as you want to. It'd make me feel a lot better."

"Wade, I don't want people knowing about this" she said as she choked back tears. The thought of everyone in town pitying her, and whispering about her made her cringe. She would lose the respect of everyone, and she didn't go to medical school just to be looked at as some sort of victim.

"Doc, I hate to be the one to tell you, but people are gonna be able to tell."

Zoe let a small sob escape at the thought. Wade was right; she wasn't going to be able to hide this. Wade could tell that he only made things worse, so he decided to try a different tactic.

"Brick won't tell anyone" he said softly. "He'll want to help you just like I do."

"I don't want him to see my like this" she said sadly as she struggled to pull herself together. "I'm such a mess, it's so embarrassing."

"Hey, hey, hey" Wade said stroking her arm. "You don't got nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Yes I do Wade, look at me!" she said exasperated.

"I am" he answered heatedly. "I see great girl who got her face rearranged by some sick bastard- he's the one who should be embarrassed. When I get my hands on him…"

"Don't talk like that" Zoe interrupted quickly. "Wade, don't get involved in this please."

"I'm already involved Zoe. I was involved the moment he hurt _you."_

"It was my fault!" she said tearfully. "I didn't mean to make him so mad."

"That's what he told you, isn't it?" Wade scoffed.

"He said I deserved it" she said as she wiped a tear out of her sore face. "That I deserved everything bad that ever happened to me. That was almost worse than him hitting me, knowing that he hated me that much" she placed her and over her face as she began to break down.

"Shh" Wade said as he pulled her into his arms. He was relieved that she didn't respond negatively to his touch, and he pulled her even closer to him. "I don't care what you did, you did not deserve this" he said softly.

"I don't know how I screwed everything up so badly" she sobbed into his chest.

"You didn't screw anything up" he said gently as he tried his best to control his rage. Whoever had done this had gotten in her head. "This wasn't your fault Zoe, this is on him not you."

She pulled back and stared at him for a moment. Wade was shocked and horrified as he looked directly into her eyes for the first time since he found her. She looked so devastated, so vulnerable.

"Zoe" he whispered sadly as he stroked her face. "Who did this to you, baby?"

"I can't" she answered. "I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

"Okay" he sighed as he struggled to stop himself from losing it. "You can't tell me yet. That's okay. But at least let me have another doctor look at you. I'm worried about you."

"Okay" she sighed as she laid down into a pillow. "You can try to have Brick come over, if it'll make you feel better."

"Thank you" Wade sighed. "It's going to be okay Doc, I promise."

"Okay" she sighed as she closed her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Thanks for coming" Wade said as he opened the door.

"Of course" Brick said as he quickly walked in and looked around. Ever since Wade had called him and told him that Zoe needed medical attention his heart had been in his thoat. "Zoe" he gasped when he saw her. "What happened? Were you in an accident?" he asked urgently.

"No" she answered as she struggled to sit up.

"Someone did this to her" Wade explained angrily.

"Who?" Brick asked as his eyes widened.

"She hasn't said yet."

"Well?" Brick asked turning to Zoe.

"I don't want to talk about it now" she shrugged.

"Well that's too bad" Brick said angrily. "Zoe Hart, you're gonna tell me who did this to you and you're gonna do it right now."

"Brick" Wade interrupted. "I didn't call you over here so you could yell at her; I just want you to check her over."

"I'm sorry" Brick said shakily. "I'm sorry; seeing you like this just shocked me."

"It's okay" Zoe nodded. She liked having a father figure in her life. It was nice that someone cared, but she just wasn't sure she was if she was ever going to tell anyone what happened, or if she was going to keep it buried.

"Wade why don't you step out while I look her over" Brick said in a firm voice.

"Sure" Wade sighed he walked to the door. "But Zoe, if you need anything…"

"I'll come get you" Brick finished. "She's gonna be fine with me."

"Okay" Wade answered. It felt so wrong to be leaving her. He never wanted to leave her again. He wanted to glue himself to her side and make sure no one ever hurt her again. But, he trusted Brick. Brick loved Zoe, and he could help her better than he could at the moment- if something was wrong with her physically Brick would make sure she was taken care of. He had done the right thing by calling him.

He sat down and for the first time allowed himself to think. He thought about seeing Zoe's beaten face for the first time, he thought about that terrified, ashamed look in her eyes a few moments earlier when she was crying, he thought about what she had said.

_ "I don't know how I screwed everything up so badly."_

_"It was my fault! I didn't mean to make him so mad."_

_"He said I deserved it, that I deserved everything bad that ever happened to me."_

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled angrily as he struggled to gain his composure. "I'm gonna kill whoever did this" he said to himself. "I swear to God, I'm gonna kill him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well" Brick sighed as he finished examining Zoe. "I'd feel better if you got x-rayed, but I don't see any cause for concern."

"Good" Zoe sighed as she lay back down. "I- I don't think I'm going to be able to make it into work tomorrow."

"I should say not" Brick scoffed. He wasn't about to let her work again for a while. "Zoe, what the hell happened to you?"

"I got beat up" she shrugged.

"I can see that. By who?"

"Brick, Wade already tried to get me to tell him…"

"Well now _I'm_ trying" he interrupted. "Whoever did this deserves to be punished."

"It's more complicated than that" she said sadly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's my fault too, Brick, okay? So I'm not out for revenge or justice. I really just want to try to get some sleep."

"Hey" he said shakily. "I don't want to hear you say that again, this wasn't your fault."

"How do you know?" she scoffed. You don't even know what happened."

"I would if you told me" he said as his voice broke.

"Not tonight" she said shaking her head. "I can't tonight."

"Okay" he sighed as he stood to his feet. "But you're going to have to tell someone eventually, you take care of yourself now, you hear?"

"Thanks" Zoe muttered.

"I'll be back to check on you" he added. "Wade better take good care of you."

"He will" Zoe answered, the words flying out of her mouth before she had really thought them through, for some reason trusting Wade felt natural at that moment. She trusted him to keep her safe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh my God" George gasped as he finally got back to his boat. "Oh my God, that did not just happen." There was no way it had happened, there was no way he had really just hit Zoe.

He closed his eyes for a second and tried to catch his breath, but all he could see was Zoe looking back at him with that awful look in her eyes.

He looked down at his knuckles, and they were bloody. He wasn't sure if it was his blood or Zoe's, and the thought made him sick inside.

He really hadn't gone there to hit her, he reminded himself reassuringly. He just went there to talk, things got out of hand that's all. Things had just gotten out of hand. Everything she had said had made him angrier and angrier. She had ruined his entire life. God, why couldn't she have just left him and Tansy alone? Why hadn't she just chosen him over Wade a year ago? If he was honest that was what he was really angry about- she wanted Wade not him, and that hurt like hell. But, to top it all off she couldn't let him be happy with anyone else either.

"But I _hit_ her" he said out loud as the full weight of his actions weighed on him. He hit a woman, he hit Zoe.

"Oh God" he repeated as he started to sob. "Oh God, what have I done?"

He swore to himself that he would find some way to make it up to her. First thing in the morning he'd go and see her and he'd find some way to make all of this better.

**Thanks for the response on the last chapter! Please let me know what you thought of this one! **


	3. Chapter 3

"Morning Doc" Wade croaked sleepily as he watched Zoe open her eyes.

"Wade?" she asked temporarily disoriented. She wondered why she was sleeping in her ex's bed until the stabbing pain in her side served as an unwelcome reminder. "Oh God" she groaned as the memories from last night filled her brain. She thought that a good night's sleep would clear her mind and give her a better idea of how to handle her situation, but she felt just as confused and horrible as she did before.

"You okay?" he asked breaking her out of her trance.

"Yeah" she answered unconvincingly as she struggled to sit up. "Thanks for taking care of me last night."

"Of course" he shrugged. "It was no big deal."

"Did you sleep at all?" she asked, noticing the bags under his eyes.

"No" he admitted. "I wanted to be here in case you needed anything."

"You didn't have to do that" she smiled.

"I-I probably wouldn't have been able to fall asleep anyway."

"Right" Zoe sighed. "I didn't sleep too well myself."

"I know" he said sympathetically

"What do you mean 'you know'?"

"I watched you sleep Zoe, you were tossing and turning all night long."

Zoe wasn't really sure how to react to what Wade was saying. On the one hand, she was touched that he was being so sweet to her. When George when was beating her he had been so cruel merciless that she could feel how much he hated her, and when no one showed up to save her- for one dark moment it felt like no one else cared about her either. But, she didn't want to lead Wade on. After the way she had screwed up she didn't feel like she was ready to jump into a romantic relationship with anybody, let alone with the man who cheated on her a few months earlier.

"You're a good friend" she finally said as she turned to gaze at him. "Thank you."

Wade had to try not to show his reaction as he looked at Zoe's face. Her eye was almost swollen shut, and it killed him to think about how much pain she must have been in.

"Don't worry about it" he shrugged. "I wish I could have done more for you. I wish I could have…." He wasn't able to finish his sentence. He wished he could have stopped Zoe from getting beaten up in the first place, he wished that more than anything, but it was all too horrible to think about. "I have to go in to the Rammer Jammer real quick and tell Lemon I won't be able to work today" he added as he got up.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because if I don't at least go in and tell Lemon I'm not making it she'll have my head, and the chick kind of scares me so…"

"No, no that's not what I meant" Zoe interrupted. "Why would you blow off work?"

Wade took a deep breath as he struggled to find his words. Wasn't it obvious? He wasn't going into work so he could take care of her.

"I don't need a baby sitter" she said as she stood to her feet. "I appreciate everything you've done, but I'm fine now. Really."

"Zoe-" he protested.

"I'll just hang out at my place" she shrugged as she picked up her dress from the floor.

Wade wasn't quite sure what to do. He couldn't just let her take off, he was still worried about her. "Zoe" he said desperately as tears formed in his eyes. "You still haven't told me who did this to you. How do I know he isn't gonna come back and hurt you again?"

Zoe stilled as she processed Wade's words. He was right. She had no way of knowing if George was going to come back, and if he did and she was alone she'd have no way to protect herself. It would be like before.

"Hey" Wade said gently as he moved closer to her. "You're safe now. You just need to stop pushing me away, and tell me what's going on."

"I can't."

"Why not?" he asked as he held back tears. "Baby, I just want to help you, I want to keep you safe."

"I know that Wade, but if I told you I'd just be making everything worse, I'm sorry."

"No, _he_ made everything worse when he smacked you around" he seethed.

"What he did was wrong" Zoe agreed.

"That's an understatement" Wade scoffed.

"But I was wrong too" she added. "I really don't feel like getting into the whole story."

"Was it that guy you were going to meet up with?"

"No" she answered quickly. "Please don't ask me anymore questions."

"God, you're still as stubborn as you ever were" he sighed. "Promise me you'll hang around Lavon and Annabeth while I'm gone."

"Fine" she said softly. "But I meant what I said, you don't have to babysit me."

"And I meant what I said, I'm going to take care of you, and I will be back" he said softly as he walked out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

Zoe took a deep breath before making the journey back to her place. She really wasn't ready to face Lavon or Annabeth. Between Brick and Wade she had dealt with enough questions and worried glances, and horrified expressions for a life time. What she really needed was a shower.

Before opening the front door, she prepared to feel nervous about being in the place where she had been attacked, but she wasn't prepared for what was waiting for her on the other side. George had been sitting on her bed waiting for her, but he quickly stood to his feet as soon as he saw her.

"Zoe" he said urgently. "Oh my God" he said in a horrified whisper. "I- I did that?"

"Yeah" Zoe answered coldly. She was feeling a swirl of conflicting emotions all at once fear, rage, guilt, sadness. She still loved him, but she hated him a whole lot more. "I'd like you to leave now George."

"Zoe, I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise" he said softly as he reached to caress her face.

Zoe jerked away before he could touch her. "Why should I believe you?" she cried.

"Last night was a one-time thing" he answered defensively. "I was drunk, and I was pissed at you for some things that weren't even your fault, and I was out of my mind after Tansy left me…"

"George" she begged. "I really just need a shower."

"We have things we need to talk about. Why don't you sit down?"

"I don't need to sit" she snapped. "I need you to go."

"Did you tell anyone what happened?" he asked as his face paled/

"No" she answered softly. "And I'm not going to so don't worry. If you stay away from me I won't tell anyone what happened."

"I- I don't want to stay away from you" he murmured sadly. "You're my friend."

"You didn't act like I was your friend last night!" she said as she began to break down.

"I know. What I did last night- it was _awful_, it was unforgivable. And the things I said….. God Zoe, I didn't mean any of them. I do care about you I always will. I hate seeing you like this. I hate myself for hurting you."

"I hate you too right now" she admitted as she struggled to hold back her sobs. "And I really want you to go."

"Are you okay?" he asked as his voice broke. "Did you go to the hospital?"

Zoe shook her head, afraid that if she spoke she would break down.

"God, I shouldn't have left you like that" he scoffed. "I should've at least gotten you help. I don't know why I didn't, I guess I was just scared…"

"Stop it!" Zoe yelled, unable to listen to him any longer. "Stop acting like you care."

"Zoe, I do care."

"George, you are never going to be able to convince me that you give a damn about me after last night. I have never felt so hated by anyone in my life, I was afraid you were going to kill me."

"You were?" he asked as his voice broke. He had no idea that she was that scared, and it only added to his own guilt. Maybe Zoe's fears were justified, he had been completely out of his mind, would he have been capable of killing her? He didn't even recognize himself anymore, and he certainly didn't like what he'd become.

"Please go" she said as she walked over to the door and opened it. "Please."

"Okay" he said shakily. "But, I'm not going away Zoe. I'm going to make sure you're okay, I'm gonna-"

Zoe slammed the door and locked it before George could finish what he was saying. She was so angry-angry at him, angry at herself. A part of her still loved him, but the thought of listening to him apologize and make excuses for himself made her skin crawl. She didn't want to be alone with George Tucker ever again in her life. Maybe Wade babysitting wouldn't be so bad after all, at least that'd keep him away….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

"Wade" Lemon sighed when she saw him. "Thank God, we have so much paperwork to get through today, and we need to order another shipment of-"

"Lemon" Wade interrupted. "I only came here to tell you I have to take the day off."

"Wade!" she scolded. "You can't, we have too much to do."

"It's an emergency" he explained.

"You look alright to me" she answered bemused. "Now get to work."

"Lemon, I can't, okay? Something came up last night."

"You better have a really good excuse" she warned pointing her finger at him.

"Lemon" he whispered, looking around to make sure no one was listening. "I found Zoe last night, someone beat her up."

"What?" Lemon gasped. "Who?"

"I don't know, she hasn't told me yet. But I've been taking care of her, and I don't think she's ready for me to leave her alone, or maybe I'm not ready, I don't know…."

"I understand" Lemon nodded. "I- I'm so sorry." She hated Zoe Hart, and she would until the day she died, but nobody deserved that, and neither did Wade. Wade was her friend…sort of, and she could see how bad this was tearing him up.

"Zoe doesn't want anyone finding out about this, so could you keep this to yourself?"

"Of course" she answered. "Let me know if there's anything I can do."

"I will" he smiled as he made his way to the door. "Thanks for understanding."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

As the shock wore off, Lemon paused for a moment and tried to process everything that Wade had said. She felt so helpless, and Lemon Breeland did not like feeling helpless. She tried to think through everything she could do to help. She could have to hold down the fort at the Rammer Jammer for the day, maybe divert the attention of some of the town gossips if they figured anything out, and then maybe she could bake Zoe a pie or something. Pie always helped her feel better, but then again maybe a pity pie would have the opposite effect….

"Lemon" George said interrupting her thoughts. "You okay?"

"Yeah" she answered nonchalantly. "Fine, and you?"

"I'm fine" he said suspiciously. "I asked you for a bottle of ketchup, my waitress is busy."

"Right" she said as she picked one up from behind the counter and handed it to him. "Here you go."

"Thanks" he said as he reached out to grab it.

"Oh my God" Lemon gasped. "George, what happened to your hand?"

"Nothing" he answered quickly as he placed the ketchup in his other hand and tucked the injured one into his pocket.

"Are you okay?" she asked concerned as she moved closer to him.

"I'm fine" he said defensively. "It's just a bruise Lemon."

"Alright" she said as she walked away. That was certainly strange. Her eyes widened as a terrible thought came to her. George couldn't have been the one who…. No, no way, it was George Tucker. George didn't hit women. They were together half her life and he never raised a hand to her. It couldn't have been him, it just couldn't.

**Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

As Zoe dried her hair, the events of the past few days came back to her in flashes.

She remembered George's harsh words as he was hitting her. _"Stop your crying. Shut up! No one here feels sorry for you Zoe, no one here cares!"_ He had been _so_ angry, and so ruthless. She wondered how she ever could have loved him.

Then she remembered the conversation she had just had with George before her shower, in which he seemed apologetic. _"I hate seeing you like this. I hate myself for hurting you." _He was like a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. How could have gone from a good guy, to the guy who beat her senseless, and then back to the same good guy in such a short time? Was it true that it was her fault? Had she done this to him?

She remembered the horrible prom where she had embarrassed herself. She remembered Tansy telling her off. _"Hey there, home wrecker."_ She really hadn't meant to screw everything up so badly, everything just seemed so confusing. She didn't mind being single before Wade, but once she lost him there was a void in her life, and she was so desperate to fill it.

Then the memory of the breakup with Wade came back to her as well. _"I did a stupid thing, and it meant nothing to me…."_

She was completely confused. She really didn't know who to trust anymore, but the worst part was that in the midst of everything she had lost touch with herself. She really had no idea who she was anymore, or what she was doing. She wasn't feeling like the smart, confidant doctor she was when she came to town, she felt so broken down. George had made her a victim, and she hated him for doing that, and she hated herself for letting him do that.

"Damn it" she yelled angrily as she chucked the blow drier across the room.

"Whoa" Wade gasped, narrowly dodging it. "You got a good arm there Doc."

"Wade? What are you doing here?" she asked coldly as she walked across the room to retrieve it.

"Thought we could catch a movie or something" he shrugged.

"I thought you had to work."

"I talked to Lemon and I got the day off."

"And Lemon was cool with you blowing of work to 'catch a movie or something?'" she asked arching a brow.

"Yeah, she was fine with it."

"Why would she be fine with that?" she scoffed. "Unless…. Oh God, Wade! You didn't…. You told Lemon?"

"Yes" Wade admitted sheepishly. "And she was very understanding, she promised not to tell anybody."

"I'm sure" Zoe said rolling her eyes.

"She won't" Wade insisted.

"I just really wish you hadn't have told her" she sighed as she began to angrily brush her hair.

"What has got you so wound up?" he asked concerned.

"Are you seriously asking me that question right now?" she scoffed. "Look at me, Wade!"

"I know" he said softly. "But you seemed like you had it together better than this when I left. You were less…pissed off. Did something happen when I was gone?"

"No" she muttered unconvincingly. "I just took a shower."

"What aren't you saying?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing!" she snapped. "Nothing" she repeated in a softer tone after noting his sad expression. "I'm sorry. I'm just sort of a mess right now."

"Please talk to me" he begged.

"He came back" Zoe admitted in a quiet voice. "He came back and I-"

"What?" Wade asked through gritted teeth. "Are you serious? Oh my God, I never should have left you. What happened? Did he hurt you again? I swear to God…"

"Wade" she interrupted. "Don't worry, he didn't hurt me. I got him to leave."

"Zoe, this is ridiculous" he said as he struggled to stable his breathing. "You've got to tell me what's going on. Please, I need to be able to protect you."

"It isn't your job to protect me" she said as tears formed in her eyes. "Not anymore."

"Damn it Zoe, I'm always gonna want to keep you safe" he muttered. "Please don't push me away right now."

"I'm not pushing you away" she answered as she pulled away from him. "I'm trying to protect _you_."

"Protect me?" he scoffed. "From the coward who smacked you around? I'm not afraid of him."

"I'm trying to protect you from yourself!" she yelled. "Trust me Wade this is for the best."

"Okay" Wade sighed. "You don't want to tell me because you think I'm going to get myself in trouble, and you know what? You're probably right because I want to kill this guy, but you can't just let him go free. I'll get the Sheriff to come over and…"

"No" she interrupted. "Wade, I told him that I wasn't going to tell anybody as long as he left me alone."

"And what did he say?" Wade asked as his hands formed tight fists.

"He said he wasn't going anywhere" she admitted.

"Damn it Zoe!" he said angrily. "How can you tell me that you don't want me around, and then tell me this guy is gonna keep hassling you? You think I'm just gonna sit around and let you get hurt again?"

"You're right" she sighed. "You're right. I don't have a plan. For all I know he could come back as soon as you leave and hurt me again."

"Then let me help you" he begged.

"Fine" she sighed. "Let's go see that movie."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

George finished his breakfast as quickly as he could, hoping no one else would notice his injured hand. How could he have been so careless? Zoe had to leave her house sometime, and when she did the whole town would be gossiping about who had hit her. He couldn't be walking around with bloody knuckles. He stuck his hands in his pockets and ran quickly down the sidewalk.

"Hey" Lemon called out as she followed after him. "George, wait up."

"What is it Lemon?" he sighed. "I really don't feel like talking. I've had a really rough couple of days, and I haven't felt like myself."

"How did you hurt your hand?" she demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Didn't I tell you?" he asked.

"No" she answered. "You didn't, you said you didn't do anything to it which is obviously a lie."

"I don't know Lemon, I got mad when Tansy left and I punched a wall" he shrugged. "It was no big deal."

"Punched a wall?" she asked.

"Yeah" he answered. "Why do you care?"

"I- I don't" she stammered. This really was none of her business anyway. But then again, when had that ever stopped her. Something was up and she wanted to figure it out.

"Okay then" he said suspiciously. "I'm gonna go now."

"Wait" she said as she grabbed his arm. "George, did you punch a wall or did you punch Zoe Hart?"

"What?" he scoffed. How did Lemon know about Zoe? Oh God, the last thing she expected was for someone to flat out ask him. He knew he had to say something fast. "Of course not" he said softly.

"George" she said as she gazed into his eyes. Lemon knew him, probably better than he knew himself and she could tell when he was lying. "Tell me the truth."

Seeing Lemon look at him like that knocked down all of his defenses. She reminded him of the man he had been, such a sharp contrast from the man he was now. "Yes" he admitted as he started to break down. "Oh God Lemon, yes. Yes, I hit her. I _hit _her." The words still sounded so weird coming out of his mouth.

Lemon stood frozen for a moment as she tried to make sense of George's confession. Part of her knew from the moment she saw his hand, but she just didn't want to believe it. George Tucker, the man she loved for half her life had done something she had never thought he was capable of. He had hit a woman.

"George" she said softly. "Why-why did you…"

"I don't know" he scoffed.

"This isn't like you" she added in a horrified whisper.

"I know. I know. I was just so angry."

"You were angry at me plenty of times" she reasoned. "And you never…"

"I think I love her" he confessed. "I think I love her more than I've ever loved anyone, and that's why she makes me so mad, she's the only person in this whole world who could really hurt me, and she has plenty of times."

"Oh come on" Lemon scoffed. "You hit Zoe because she is the only woman you've ever loved? George Tucker, that is a load of bull and you know it. You need to stop making excuses for yourself!"

"I hate myself for what I did to her" he said, holding back tears.

"Good!" Lemon yelled. "At least that's a start."

"You're pissed?" he asked, hoping she would say no, hoping that if nothing else he had the loyalty of his ex-fiancée.

"You're damn right I'm pissed" she scoffed. "George, I care about you and I always will and you have just done something so _stupid_."

"I know" he said defensively. "I know, I screwed up."

"You should have seen Wade" she added. "He's out for blood, when he finds out that it's you…"

"Are you going to tell him?" he asked tearfully.

"I don't know" she answered. "I honestly have no idea George." Protecting George came as an instinct to her, but in this case he was so wrong, and part of her knew that Zoe deserved justice even if she wasn't seeking it for herself.

"I'm never ever going to do anything like this again, I swear" he said sincerely. "And I'm going to do whatever I can to make this up to her."

"No you aren't" she scoffed. "George, you leave that poor girl alone."

"She needs me Lemon. She needs someone to help her get through this."

"Can you even be sure that she'll be safe around you?" she scoffed. "Can you even be sure that you aren't going to hit her again?"

"You feel safe enough to be standing here with me" he answered. "So you must think so."

"Oh God" Lemon whispered as she realized George was right. Trusting George came natural to her. She had trusted him with her mind, body, and soul for so many years, but this man standing in front of her wasn't the man she knew, and she wasn't necessarily safe with him. "I- I have to go" she said nervously as she turned around and ran away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

"Hey" Wade called out as he saw Lemon pass by. "You okay?"

"Why are you here? Where's Zoe?" she asked as she looked around.

"I wanted to buy some movie snacks at the Dixie shop before we go to theatre in Mobile. Zoe's back at my place with the door locked, and I'm having Lavon keep an eye on her." he answered. "The guy who beat her actually had the balls to show up again when I was gone. I don't know how I'm going to keep an eye on her forever, but I'll damned if I let her get hurt again so until she tells me…"

"Wade-" Lemon interrupted quickly. In that moment she knew what she had to do. Wade was her friend, and this was killing him. Besides, George had admitted himself that he wasn't going to stay away from Zoe. She didn't even know George anymore, and she couldn't trust that he wouldn't hurt her again. If something happened to her because she said nothing she'd never be able to forgive herself. As much as it hurt, she had to do the right thing, she had to stand on her own two feet, she had to tell Wade what George did. "I know who hurt Zoe"

"What?" Wade asked frantically. "Who?"

"George" Lemon answered as she took a deep breath. "George Tucker was the one who beat up Zoe Hart. I'm so sorry Wade, I really am."

**Please Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

"What did you just say?" Wade asked through gritted teeth.

"George hit Zoe" Lemon repeated.

"Are- are you sure?" he asked. Never in a million years did he think that Tucker could…

"Yes" Lemon answered. "He came into the Rammer Jammer after you left. His knuckles were all messed up, and I got a weird feeling so I confronted him about it."

"And?"

"And he admitted it" she shrugged. "He definitely did it."

"Son of a bitch!" Wade yelled. "How could he do this to her? She… "It pained him too much to admit it out loud, but he knew Zoe loved George. She loved him and he wasn't even smart enough to know how special that was. He was the one that hurt her so deeply. He was the reason she was bruised and bloodied and traumatized.

"I don't know what happened" Lemon said as tears formed in her eyes. "I don't know what changed, but he's not the same man I fell in love with. He doesn't even seem to understand how serious this is, he thinks he's going to make it better by pushing himself on her."

"He's never gonna see her again" Wade said under his breath as he tightened his fists. "He's never gonna touch her again. I'm gonna make sure of it."

"Wade-" Lemon interrupted. "Don't hurt him, do you understand me?"

"You didn't see her Lemon" he yelled. "You didn't see how bad he hurt her!"

"There is no excuse for what he did" she agreed. "But, if you beat him up this is only going to make things worse for Zoe, and you want to be there for her, right? You want to be the one to help her heal because you're in love with her."

"Lemon, this has nothing to do with the way I feel about her, okay? This is about George and what he did to her. He has to pay."

"This has everything to do with the way you feel about Zoe Hart!" Lemon scoffed. "Why do you think you're so pissed off? You want to hurt George because he hurt the woman you love."

"I just want to keep her safe" Wade said as his voice broke. "I just want to protect her."

"Then scare George away" she answered. "Or get the police involved, find some way that doesn't involve getting yourself in trouble because the last thing Zoe would want is you in jail. And quite frankly Wade, that's the last thing I would want either. You've really pulled it together these past few months and I'd hate to see that blown to hell."

"I pulled it together because of Zoe" he said sadly. "I thought that maybe if she saw me act responsible she'd take me back."

"Because you love her?" Lemon asked.

Wade nodded shyly.

"Then go fight for her" she answered. "But don't do something stupid, and ruin it for yourself, understand?"

"I want to kill him" he scoffed. "But you're right, I shouldn't. Zoe deserves better than that."

"What are you going to do?" Lemon asked nervously.

"I don't know" Wade sighed as he walked away. "I honestly have no idea."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey Z" Lavon said softly as Zoe made her way into the kitchen. "Done with your nap?"

"Yeah" she answered with a yawn. "I got kind of hungry."

"I made soup earlier" Annabeth said as she walked to the refrigerator. "And I could make you a sandwich…"

"You guys don't have to do that" Zoe scoffed.

"Do what?" Annabeth asked.

"Act all…nice because I got beat up. I know Wade asked you to take care of me, but-"

"Hey" Lavon interrupted. "We're nice because we like you, and Annabeth is just excited because so far no one has agreed to try that soup, and she's hoping you'll be her guinea pig."

"It's good soup!" she insisted. "It's chicken noodle, how bad could I have screwed up chicken noodle?"

"Thanks, I'd love to try it" Zoe smiled. She liked pretending everything was normal for a moment. It was harder to be with Wade. She was reminded of what happened every time they looked at each other and she saw the raw pain in his eyes. Lavon and Annabeth were able to at least pretend to be unfazed by her bruises. They cared about her, but not like Wade did and that made it easier.

"Where was Wade going?" Annabeth asked. "It seems like he's been gone a long time."

"It takes him a long time to pick out candy" Zoe smiled fondly. "I don't really know why, he always ends up going with M and M's in the end."

"Right" Annabeth nodded, unsure of how to respond. It was clear that Zoe had feelings for Wade, but she didn't want to open up that can of worms. The poor girl had been cheated on and beaten to a pulp within the last few months, pushing her into a new relationship would be about the worst thing she could do as her friend. "What movie y'all going to see?"

"I'm not sure yet" Zoe shrugged. "If Wade picks the movie it will probably be something with blood and guts."

"And boobs" Lavon added.

"Right" Zoe agreed with a smile. "That too."

"Speak of the devil…" Annabeth said as she noticed Wade standing at the door.

"Wade" Zoe smiled as she turned to look at him. "Where's the candy?"

"I didn't get candy Zoe" he said shakily. "I have something I need to talk to you about."

"What's up?" she asked nervously.

"I think we should do this somewhere private" Wade suggested.

"We can go" Annabeth offered.

"Right" Lavon agreed as they walked out of the kitchen together. "Because we have that thing to do anyway…"

"So, what's going on?" Zoe asked once they left. Wade looked upset, even more upset than he had been and she was terrified that something had happened.

"I know" Wade said softly as he sat next to her.

"Know what?"

"I know that George Tucker did this to you."

"What?" Zoe scoffed. In the moment, she was panicked and pretending that it wasn't true seemed like the best option.

"Don't do that" Wade scolded. "Don't pretend that the idea is crazy because I know it's true."

"But…how?" she asked as tears formed in her eyes.

"I doesn't matter" he said coldly.

"Oh God" Zoe gasped as she finally put the pieces together. Wade knew what happened to her, and he had been out for a really long time for no apparent reason. "What did you do to him?" she asked nervously. "You didn't…."

"I drank" he interrupted. "And I thought. I thought about teaching him exactly what it feels like to be beaten senseless, I thought about getting my shotgun and doing even more damage, I thought about getting the sheriff involved and watching the look on his face as everyone in town found out that he isn't exactly Mr. Perfect but then I realized that wasn't fair."

"What?" Zoe asked mystified. Wade seemed so furious, was he about to defend George?

"It isn't fair because he hit you, not me" he explained. "You should be the one to pick what happens to him."

"What- what do you mean?"

"Tell me what to do Zoe, and I'll do it. If you want me to beat him up I'll do it. If you want me to call the sheriff I'll do that. Hell, I'll even kill the guy if that's what you want. I'll rot in prison the rest of my life for you."

"No" Zoe answered frantically. "That isn't what I want."

"I know it isn't" he smiled. "You're too good to want that. Just tell me what you want me to do with Tucker."

"Nothing" Zoe answered as she threw her hands up in exasperation. "That's why I never told you who did it, I don't want you to do anything Wade."

"No" he said desperately. "No, I don't believe you. I don't believe you want him to get away with this."

"It's going to be ugly" she said as she started to break down. "Really, really ugly."

"Baby" he said softly as he hugged her gently. "It already is ugly; he's the one who made it ugly, okay? Not you."

"No one in town will believe me" she added. "Everybody loves him, and I'm just the nut job doctor from New York."

"Fine" Wade nodded. "I get it."

"Thank you" she sighed.

"I'm going to go" he added coldly. "Stay with Lavon, don't wait up for me."

"Where are you going?" she asked as she tried to block his path.

"If you aren't going to tell the police, I'm going to scare him off in my own way."

"What does that mean?" she asked frantically. "What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry about that" he answered. "It isn't your problem, I'm going to take care of this for you."

"Wade!" she yelled. "Don't do this."

"Zoe, this isn't your problem. This is my choice, and I'll live with the consequences."

"It- it is my problem" she said frustrated. "Because I love you!"

**Please Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry the update took longer, but I think it'll be worth it. I worked longer on this chapter, and I'm pleased with the way it turned out… hopefully you will be too! **

"What?" Wade gasped as he stopped in his tracks.

"I love you" Zoe repeated nervously. "Come on…you knew that."

"No" he whispered shakily. "No, I-I didn't know that." He had always hoped that she loved him, but she had never confirmed it. A few times when they were dating he had come dangerously close to saying it to her, but he always chickened out at the last minute, afraid that she wouldn't say it back. But now here they were, all these months later, after everything that had happened finally admitting it to one another. "I love you too" he said as he moved closer to her. "And, I'm so sorry that I hurt you." He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, but she seemed hesitant.

"I know you're sorry" she said as she took a step back. "But this doesn't change anything. We still can't be together."

And there it was. The painful reminder that things could never be the way they were, that he had screwed up the best thing he ever had. "Why not?" he asked desperately.

"Because… look at me Wade!" she yelled as she pointed to a large bruise on her face. "I'm a mess right now."

"You've always been a mess" he smiled fondly. "Ever since I found you on the side of the road drinking box wine." Zoe Hart had always been neurotic that was for sure. It was one of the things that made him fall in love with her.

"Something must be very wrong with me!" she snapped. "Either that or I just have the worst luck ever. George _hit _me, you cheated on me-"

"Let's be honest here for a minute" he said softly. "That's what this is really about."

"What are you talking about?" she muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"This has nothing to do with what George did to you. You are still pissed at me for cheating on you, and you don't trust me yet."

"I don't want to go there right now" she sighed. She was still reeling from how badly George had hurt her; she didn't want to revisit all of the feelings she had after Wade told her he had cheated. In that moment, she was certain that she never wanted to be with another man again, she just wanted to keep herself safe. Safe from pain and heartbreak. "I'm not ready to jump into a relationship with you again" she explained. "But I _do_ love you, and I don't want you getting yourself in trouble, or hurt, or worse-"

"It hurts me to see you like this" he yelled in exasperation. "And it's even worse when I think about Tucker getting away with it! I'm going to make sure that-"

"It was my fault Wade!" Zoe interrupted as she finally broke down. "It was my fault, okay? So just drop it. Please." Zoe didn't want to expose George for what he had done because it meant exposing herself as well. Exposing the mistakes she had made, and exposing the fact that she had been a victim. The whole incident was so inherently embarrassing, and she just wanted to pretend that it had never happened.

"Oh God, baby" he sighed as he put his hand on her back. "He's got you all twisted up in knots."

"I broke up him and Tansy" she explained tearfully.

"No you didn't" he scoffed. "The only people responsible for what happened between George and Tansy are George and Tansy. And even if you were responsible that doesn't give him a free pass to smack you around."

"It was so awful" she said in a horrified whisper. "I tried to get away… but it seemed like everything I did just made him angrier. He was _so_ angry. I didn't mean to make him that mad." Her hands began to shake as she recounted the incident, and the raw terror she felt when she was at George's mercy. She thought for sure that he was going to kill her and that his angry face and empty eyes would be the last thing she saw as she took her last breath.

"This _isn't_ your fault" he insisted. "Don't you see that?" Her lack of a response gave him his answer. She didn't see that. George had convinced her that this was just as much her fault as it was his, and Wade knew what a load of bull that was. He searched his mind for a way to give her another perspective. He knew that being a doctor was a huge part of her identity. Her love life was messy and complicated, but as a doctor she was clear-headed and objective. "What if you had a patient and they were saying all the things you're saying right now?" he asked. "That it was her fault a man hit her because she made him mad. What would you say?"

"It doesn't matter" she muttered. She _had_ been in that situation before as a doctor, and she had convinced her patient to get help, she assured her that it wasn't her fault. But what happened with George was different. She knew what Wade was doing, but she was too stubborn to let it have an effect on her.

"Like hell it doesn't!" he scoffed as he formed a tight fist with his hand.

"Why are you yelling at me?" she shouted, as tears filled her eyes again.

"Because you need a wakeup call!" he shouted back.

"No" she said shaking her head adamantly. "I just need some time. Time to think this through. Time to get things under control…"

"And how are you gonna do that, huh? You aren't going to let me scare him off, you aren't going to report him, and he's told you he's not going to leave you alone. Just how do you think this is going to end?" Wade's imagination ran wild thinking of just that, how this would end if he walked away like Zoe wanted him too. The last thing in the world he wanted was to find her like he had before- beaten, disoriented, and terrified. He'd do anything to stop that from happening. But his worst fear was that it would be worse the next time. He could lose Zoe, and that thought drove him absolutely mad.

"I don't know how this will end Wade! I have no idea what I'm doing…. I've never done this before!" she said frustrated.

"Well you better figure it out!" he seethed. "Because I love you like crazy, and I can accept the fact that you aren't taking me back. Hell, I deserve it, but if you think I'm going to sit back and let you get hurt again than you really are crazy, Zoe. Do you have any idea what it did to me to find you all beaten up like you were last night? Do you have any idea what it does to me now to see that you're still hurting? Zoe, you need to let me do something!"

"Fine" she sighed. She felt tired, and defeated. Wade wanted to help, and the truth was she wanted him to. She missed him badly, and she loved him, probably more than she had ever loved anyone in her life. She wasn't ready to promise him anything, or to start anything romantic, but she didn't want to leave either. She wanted him to stay and help her. "Hug me" she said softly as she moved closer to him.

"What?" Wade asked, completely taken aback.

"Hug me" she repeated. "I'm upset, and I'm scared, and I want a hug. If you want to do something for me, hug me. That's what I want."

"Um, Okay" he said as he quickly made his way over to her and took her in his arms. He instantly was reminded of how much he had missed her. The feeling of her body against his, the smell of her hair... But the best part was that she trusted him. In that moment she was making herself completely vulnerable to him. She was letting him take care of her, and that had been all he wanted to do since he found her.

For a moment Zoe felt safe, and that felt nice. "Thanks" she smiled as she pulled back. "That helped."

"Of course" he sighed as he gently stroked her cheek. "Now, are you going to let me do something about Tucker?"

Zoe shook her head and looked down at the floor. Part of her wanted to say yes to everything he had to offer. Yes to getting back together, yes to getting justice for herself, but she was still so terrified.

"How am I going to make sure that you're safe?" he asked.

"You could… stay with me" she suggested shakily, in a moment of exposed vulnerability. "He isn't going to have the guts to do anything to me with you here."

"Like I'd let him if he did" he scoffed.

"Exactly" Zoe agreed. "So stay with me. Instead of taking off to get revenge… be my friend. I could use one of those right now."

"Fine" Wade sighed. Staying with Zoe Hart actually sounded like the best offer he had gotten in a while. "Want to go see that movie?"

"Sure" Zoe agreed with a smile.

"This doesn't mean I'm forgetting about what he did to you" he warned. He would never forget that. Tucker was going to get what he had coming to him sooner or later.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"It means that_ I_ want to beat the crap out of him. But I'm putting you first for now. I'm going to try to prove to you that you _can_ trust me again."

Zoe wanted Wade's promise that he was _never _going to do anything stupid to George, but for now what was good enough for her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

George sat on his bed, icing his hand and trying to figure out what to do next. Part of him wanted to leave town. To go find Tansy and forget that the past few days had even happened. Start over somewhere new, but he knew he couldn't do that. He couldn't leave Zoe, not after what he did to her. He wasn't going anywhere until he knew she was alright. And maybe, just maybe, something good could come out of all of this. Maybe Zoe and he could have a chance. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud, frantic pounding at his front door.

"Hello?" he asked as he opened it. Before he realized what was happening, a fist was flying towards his face, hitting him square in the nose.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked angrily, as he held his nose in his hand. The pain was blinding at first, but after a moment it felt better and he was able to determine that it wasn't broken.

"You deserve a lot worse" Lavon said disgusted as he rubbed his hand in pain. "I know what you did" he added as he walked onto George's boat, without invitation.

"What?" George asked feigning ignorance. Maybe he wasn't talking about what he thought he was; maybe it was something else entirely. After all, Zoe had promised not to tell anyone.

"Don't play dumb" he snapped. "I overheard Wade and Zoe talking. He found out what you did and confronted her. She admitted it."

"Damn" he muttered. "Wade knows."

"Yeah, and you're lucky Zoe talked him out of doing anything to you, because I've known Wade a long time and I've never seen him so angry. If he sees you, he really might just kill you."

"He hurt her more than I ever did" George said angrily. "In fact, if Wade had never cheated on her none of this would have ever happened."

"Blaming everyone except yourself?" Lavon asked angrily. "What Wade did sucks, but what you did…."

"I'm sorry" George said sadly. "I really am so, so sorry. I've never felt this bad about anything in my life."

"Now there's a start" Lavon sighed. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't" he shrugged. "I wasn't thinking at all."

"She's just a tiny little bit of a thing, and you beat the hell out of her" he said through gritted teeth. "You do understand what a big deal that is?"

"Of course I do!" George yelled. "It's all I've been thinking about."

"Then make it better!" he demanded. "Turn yourself in before it gets uglier than it already is!"

"Why would I do that?" George asked. "I could lose my license to practice law, and everyone in town would know… What good would that do?"

"It'd help Zoe" he answered.

"How?" George scoffed.

"She'd feel safer, and it'd keep Wade out of trouble. She needs him."

"No" George said shaking his head. "She needs _me_." Making this better for Zoe was the only way he could think of to redeem himself, and the only thing that kept him from hating himself completely. He would be damned if Wade Kinsella was going to take that away from him. Take Zoe away from him.

"Let me make this clearer" Lavon sighed. "I didn't come here to ask you to turn yourself in. I came here to make you turn yourself in. Do you understand what I'm saying? Turn yourself in, or I'm doing it for you."

**Please Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

"I have to admit" Zoe giggled as she and Wade made their way out of the theater. "That movie was not quite as terrible as I thought it would be."

"I told ya you'd like it" he grinned back. "It's got that blonde actress from your gossip magazines that you used to carry on about."

"Gwyneth Paltrow" Zoe nodded. "Wasn't she great?"

"Well, she's pretty easy on the eyes" Wade joked.

Zoe playfully slapped his arm. "Guess I can't blame you for looking" she sighed as she rolled her eyes. "Since the girl you brought with you looks like a bruised eggplant."

Wade cringed as he heard Zoe's words. The pain in her voice was evident and it made him feel pissed off at George all over again. "The girl I brought with me is beautiful" he said softly.

"Not anymore" she scoffed. "She is _pretty_ ugly now."

"Hey" Wade said as he stopped and looked into her eyes. "What happened to you is ugly, but you are _not_ ugly. You could never be ugly. You're the most beautiful woman in the world even when you are a bruised eggplant."

"Thanks" she said as she stared at the ground. She didn't really believe what Wade was saying, but for some reason she felt comforted.

"So" he sighed. "What do you want to do now?"

"I could use a bite to eat" she answered. "That popcorn didn't quite do it for me."

"It was pretty stale" he agreed with a look of distaste on his face. "Want to go to the Rammer Jammer?"

"Sounds great" Zoe smiled. "I'm in the mood for a big pile of French fries, and a burger with bacon and guacamole."

"How do you stay so skinny?" Wade asked in awe as a wide grin spread across his face. "You eat like a freaking horse."

"Guess I just have a good metabolism" she shrugged.

"Well, you'll certainly keep the cook busy tonight" he teased.

"I'm sure I will" she laughed.

"I think you'll like some of the changes me and Lemon made" he said, hoping in some subconscious sense that Zoe would be impressed by his work. "We fixed it up quite a bit."

It was then that Zoe realized what she was about to do. She was going to the Rammer Jammer, the favorite hangout place of about half of the people in Bluebell. "Everyone's going to see me" she said as the realization hit her. "And, they're going to wonder what happened…"

Wade scolded himself internally for not thinking of that beforehand. "You don't have to tell them anything your uncomfortable telling them" he said sympathetically. "It isn't anyone's business."

"They're going to wonder what's up with us hanging out again too" she added as she eyed him speculatively.

"Well, that isn't any of their business either" he answered.

"But it's our business right?" she asked as she gazed at him. She had no idea how she would answer anyone else's questions about Wade and her because she wasn't exactly sure what was going on between them.

"Yes, I suppose it is" he said confused. Just what was this woman getting at?

"So… what's up with us hanging out together" she giggled.

"I thought we agreed to this so I could keep you safe?" he asked. "You're still okay with that, right?"

"Yeah" she nodded. "But, come on, our relationship is more than that. We're having a lot of fun together…."

"You said you don't want to get back together."

"I don't…yet. But, I mean we're friends, right?"

"Yeah" he smiled. "Friends."

"Good" she smiled back at him as she began to walk again. "Glad we cleared this up."

"But Zoe-"he called out as he grabbed her hand.

"Yeah?" she asked as she turned around to face him.

"I don't _just_ want to be your friend. You do understand that, right?"

"Wade-" she sighed.

"I love you" he interrupted. "I'm glad you're letting us be friends, but… I want more. And I will always want more. I just want you to remember that."

"Okay" she said softly. She chose not to say anything else. She knew she couldn't be with him, even though a big part of her wanted to.

"We should go now" Wade sighed. "I wasn't really hungry before but all you're talk about French fries and what-not has sparked my appetite."

"Well, last one there pays the bill!" she laughed as she took off in the direction of the Rammer Jammer.

"Oh no you don't" Wade said teasingly as he ran after her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I won" Zoe said proudly as they walked in together.

"You cheated" he sneered as he struggled to catch us breath.

"Whatever" she responded as she rolled her eyes.

"Zoe Hart" Crickett gasped as she walked towards her quickly. "Good Lord, what happened to your face?" Suddenly everyone was staring at Zoe gasping and whispering to one another. Zoe stood in awkward silence, unsure of what to do.

"Crickett" Lemon scolded as she ran towards them. "Why don't we leave the good doctor be?"

"But…"

"Crickett" she whispered with harshness in her voice. "Go sit down."

"It's okay" Zoe sighed.

"No it's not" Lemon answered as she handed her a menu. "This is my bar and I'm not going to sit back and watch one of my customers get interrogated for no good reason. There's no reason you should have to justify yourself to anyone."

"Thank you" Zoe said softly with a look of appreciation on her face.

"Don't mention it" Lemon said as she guided them to the table.

"She was _nice_" Zoe whispered in awe as Lemon walked away. "It was…weird."

"I guess she's evolved" Wade shrugged as he took his seat.

"She pities me" Zoe answered dryly.

"No she doesn't" he scoffed. "What's to pity? You're gorgeous, and smart, you have a great job. So you got a few bruises. They'll heal."

Zoe gave Wade an appreciative smile before changing the subject. "Want to get appetizers?" she asked as she cleared her throat.

"Sure" Wade sighed. "How do nachos sound?"

"Good" Zoe smiled. "But I thought you didn't do Mexican after 7:00."

"I'll make an exception" he winked at her. "I know they're your favorite."

"Thanks" she sighed as she put her hand on his. "For everything, I don't know how I'd deal with all of this if I didn't have you."

"It's no problem" he shrugged. "I like hanging out with you."

"Even when I'm a whiny bruised eggplant?" she asked.

"Yes" he smiled back. He liked the feeling of her hand on his, but he wasn't entirely sure what it meant. He hoped that it was a sign that she was starting to trust him again. He was willing to do anything he could to earn that trust back, even hold off on giving Tucker what he deserved, for a little while anyway.

**Pretty much just fluff and a shorter chapter, I'm sorry! I wasn't sure when I'd get a chance to write more and I wanted to give you guys what I was able to write this weekend. I'll try to get the next chapter out asap. I'm also working on the next chapter of Until You for those of you who read that fic! Please Review, I'd like to know what the thoughts are about how the Zade relationship is progressing…**


	8. Chapter 8

"Everyone in there was staring at me" Zoe said to Wade as they walked out of the bar.

"Everyone is always staring at you" he scoffed. "You're the only one in Bluebell who has ever dared to wear booty shorts."

"These are not _booty _shorts" Zoe giggled as she rolled her eyes.

"Hey I ain't complaining" he shrugged as a wide grin spread across his face.

"Oh, stop it" she scolded, playfully slapping his arm. It felt good to joke around with Wade, but the conversation between them was growing dangerously close to flirting, so Zoe decided to change the subject. "I can't wait to sleep in my own bed" she groaned. "My feet are killing me."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Wade asked hesitantly. "What if-"

"I'll lock the door" Zoe interrupted. "I'll be fine Wade; you can't keep an eye on me forever."

"I can try" he smirked.

"You know what I think?" Zoe asked as she turned to gaze at him.

"What's that, Doc?"

"I think that this is all going to blow over soon" she smiled. "I think that everything is going to work out."

"Yeah?" he smiled back. He wasn't as sure, but if Zoe was feeling better he didn't want to stand in the way of that.

"Yeah" she nodded. "I can get home from here" she added with a wink as she turned to walk away.

"Wait" he called out urgently.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning around to face him. Her eyes were wide, and for one moment she thought he was going to kiss her. The thought made her happier than she'd like to admit. But after a moment she realized that wasn't what was happening at all. Wade was searching his mind for something to say.

"A true Southern gentleman always walks a lady to her door" he explained as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"And since when are you a 'true Southern gentleman?'" she asked, teasingly.

"I'm working on it" he smiled as he took her hand in his.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wade sighed as he walked back into his place. He was glad that Zoe was doing better emotionally, and he had made sure that she was settled into her place with the door _locked_ so he knew that she was safe. However, part of him had kind of hoped that Zoe would come home with him. Partially because the thought of something happening to her again scared the hell out of him, and partially because he had gotten used to spending time with her again, and he missed her when she was gone.

He tried drowning his worries by playing a couple video games, but it wasn't really working. He just couldn't get his mind of Zoe Hart. It had never been this bad before, and he loved her just as much then… He realized that the difference was he was worried about her, and that wasn't going to get better until he knew that George was out of the picture.

So, despite what Zoe had said he knew what he had to do. He had to have a little talk with George Tucker…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a much needed shower Zoe felt much more relaxed. She had even forgotten what had happened for a moment, before a casual passing glance at the bathroom mirror served as an unwelcome reminder.

"My God" she whispered as she stared at the bruises on her ribs that had grown darker. A part of her felt as if she was examining injuries on a patient; it didn't even seem real that she was looking at herself.

It was then that she was startled by a loud crash. She wasn't sure if the noise had come from outside or from somewhere else inside the carriage house, but as her curiosity and concern grew she quickly ran out of her bathroom to see what was going on. She stopped dead in her tracks when what had happened became apparent.

"George" she gasped. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

"I- I had to talk to you" he said as he stood from a pile of broken glass and stumbled towards her. He was bleeding from where the glass had cut him, his face was pale, and his gaze was fixed on the floor. Something was very wrong with him. He seemed even less like himself than before. There was only a shell left of the George she had met when she came to town. It was as if he had come completely undone.

"How drunk are you?" she asked as she struggled to make eye contact with him.

"Not-not at all" he laughed.

Zoe knew she was lying, but she wasn't in the mood for getting the truth out of him. She was exhausted, and pissed off, and hurt and she just want him to go away. "You broke a window to get in here?" she asked dryly as she stared at the glass on the floor.

"Door was locked" he shrugged.

"It was locked for a reason" she snapped. "You need to go."

"You're so pretty" he whispered as he stroked her face.

"George, you need to leave" she said firmly as she backed away from him. At this point his touch disgusted her. _He_ disgusted her. And she disgusted herself-for ever loving him, but mostly for that small part of herself that still felt something for him. The part that wanted to make sure he got home okay, and didn't get himself in any more trouble. But when she remembered the look that had been in his eyes when he hit her she hated him all over again. Worse than she had ever hated anyone in her life. She had so many conflicting emotions about this man, and it made her so angry.

"Come on" he pleaded desperately. "You don't believe it, do you Zoe?"

"Believe what?" she asked choking back tears. She wasn't exactly sure why she was crying in that moment. Part of it was fear. Fear that he'd hurt her again, fear that this time would be even worse. But she was also crying for George. The George she knew was dead, just like her love for him was dead.

"You don't believe that I'm bad?" he asked as his voice broke.

"George" she sighed. "What you did-"

"Was awful" he interrupted as he gently caressed a bruise on her cheek. "But I'm _not_ awful. Not when I'm with you anyway."

"You need to go" she repeated. She wasn't sure how many times she had already said that since he crashed into her window, but she knew he sure as hell wasn't going to listen to her this time. She needed to find some other way to get him out of her house.

"Lavon, and Lemon, and Wade. They all want to take you away from me" he ranted as he grabbed her wrist. "But they can't."

"I'm not yours to take" she said as she pulled violently away from him. "You need to go home George, sleep this off."

"You know" he scoffed as he moved closer to her again. "When you think about all we've been through, and how much we love each other, it's pretty ridiculous that we've never even made love."

"What?" she scoffed. "You think that we're going to have sex when I still have bruises all over my body that _you_ gave me?"

"No!" he yelled angrily. "I- I don't know! All of this is so confusing, Zoe… I love you."

"Don't say that" she said angrily as she began to cry again. "I don't want you to love me. I just want you to go."

"I know I've hurt you" he said sympathetically. "But I know you love me too."

"No" she said as she pursed her lips and shook her head. "No, not anymore."

"You're lying!" he yelled. "You have to be. This can't be over between us."

"It isn't over because it was never there in the first place!" she yelled, the words tumbling out of her mouth naturally. She was shocked at herself for a moment before she realized she was right. There was nothing there in the first place. Not a legitimate relationship anyway; just a crush, and a drunken night where he shattered it all. He wasn't the great love of her life, he was a delusion that she held onto for way to long. But she had seen the worst in him, and there was no way she could keep holding him up on a pedestal.

"There will _always_ be something between us" he said through gritted teeth as he grabbed her arm and held it tightly.

"George, let go of my arm" she said as she struggled to pull away from him.

"No" he said as he continued to fight her.

"What are you going to do, hit me again?" she asked bitterly.

"Damn it Zoe, no!" he shouted. "I'd never hurt you again."

"Then what are you doing now?" she asked as she finally broke free.

"I just want to be with you" he said as he frantically made his way back towards her.

"No" she yelled as she threw a book off her night stand at him and ran towards the bathroom.

Despite his drunken state, he was still faster than her. He reached out and grabbed her, and pulled her towards himself. "Please don't leave me" he whispered as he began to cry. "You're mine."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Tucker!" Wade yelled as he pounded on his door. "Damn it Tucker open up!"

"Wade?" Tansy asked as she opened it.

"Where is he?" he fumed as he walked inside.

"George is gone" she answered.

"Gone?" he asked hoping it was true. Hoping that Tucker took off and was never coming back.

"I came back for him" she said teary eyed. "And we talked. He told me Zoe's what he wants. He went to see her."

"What?" Wade gasped.

"George went to see Zoe" Tansy repeated bitterly.

"Son of a bitch!" Wade cursed as he quickly ran off. "I'm going to kill him."

**Please Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Zoe" Wade shouted desperately as he banged on her door. "Doc, are you okay?" He paused for a moment and looked around for any signs of Zoe or George, but all he saw was the smashed in window and he grew even more frantic. Something was very, very wrong and he was terrified of what that something was. "Zoe, if you can hear me open the door" he pleaded. When there was still no reply he knew what he had to do.

He took a step back and kicked the door as hard as he could. It flung open after one strike, and he quickly ran inside.

He was quickly met with the image of Zoe standing near the door, no physical injuries were apparent to him and he felt a huge sense of relief. "Zoe" he sighed. "Are you okay?"

Zoe was standing frozen staring off into the distance. "Of course I'm okay, Wade" she said coldly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

The way she was acting scared the hell out of him. She was completely emotionless, like a robot. She seemed traumatized, even worse than before. "I know Tucker came here" he said softly as he put his hand on her arm.

Zoe jerked away at the contact and looked at Wade with terror in her eyes. "How do you know that?" she asked shakily.

"I talked to Tansy" he answered. "He told her he was coming to see you."

Zoe looked down at the floor and pulled her bathrobe closer to her body. He could see that her hands were shaking and it looked like she was choking back tears.

"Oh God" Wade said as he closed his eyes and griped his fists tightly. "He did something to you, didn't he?"

Zoe shook her head slightly, but still didn't make eye contact with him.

"You can tell me" he said gently. "Please tell me. I want to help you."

"It's bad" she said as a tear ran down her face. "Really, really bad."

"Oh God" he sighed. He feared the worst, but he was still holding on to hope that he was wrong. That Tucker didn't… God, he couldn't even think the word.

"I can't tell you" she said as a sob escaped from her throat. "You're going to hate me."

Damn it, he was right. He had hurt her again. He felt a million emotions at once anger, sadness, guilt. He wanted to _kill_ Tucker worse than anything, but as he looked at Zoe again and saw how terrified she looked he knew his first job was to take care of her. "Hate you?" he scoffed. "Zoe I_ love_ you. Nothing that animal did to you will change that, baby. I'm going to help you; we're going to get through this."

"No" she cried.

"It's okay" he said gently as he put his arm around her. "It's okay, I promise."

"No" she whispered. "It's not okay. It'll never be okay again."

"Nonsense" he whispered as he held her tight. "I'm going to take care of you Zoe, but there are some things we have to do now."

"What do you mean?" she asked as she pulled away from him.

"I'm going to take you to the hospital" he answered. "They'll take care of you there. And I won't leave you, not for any of it. They'll collect evidence, that way we can make sure everyone knows what a son of a bitch he really is."

"What are you saying?" Zoe asked as her face paled. "You think George _raped_ me?"

"That's not what happened?" he asked, as his eyes widened.

"No" Zoe answered shaking her head. "No he didn't rape me."

"Thank God" he sighed. He had never felt so relieved in his entire life. But Zoe was still acting strange. _Something _had obviously happened. "Tucker came here?" he asked.

She nodded in response. "Yeah" she whispered. "He was here."

"And he broke the window?" he asked.

"Yeah" she said shakily. "He-he wouldn't leave."

"Did he hurt you?" Wade asked as he swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Tried to" she shrugged. "He grabbed me a few times."

As images flew threw his head of Tucker putting his hands on Zoe again he had to hold back his rage. He had to know more before he did anything. He had to get her to tell him more."Then what happened?" he asked, terrified of the answer.

"I can't tell you" she whispered as she hung her head in shame.

"Baby" Wade said as he took her hand in his. "You can tell me anything, I promise. I'm not going to be mad, I'm not going to hate you, I just want to help you. Please let me help you."

"I'm so sorry" she cried.

"For what?" he asked. What could Zoe possibly have to be sorry for? This wasn't her fault, none of it. It was Tucker's fault for laying a hand on her in the first place. It was his fault for letting her out of his sight. But Zoe hadn't asked for any of this.

Zoe turned away from Wade and he was afraid that she was going to take off. But, instead she walked to her bathroom door and opened it slowly. Wade gasped as he saw what was was blood everywhere and George was lying on the floor motionless.

"I didn't mean to" Zoe cried, shaking her head. "He wouldn't leave, and I thought he was going to…"

Wade didn't say anything he just stood in shocked silence.

"I didn't want to be a victim again" she explained as she began to cry harder. "So I tried to fight him off. I didn't mean to hurt him that bad, I just wanted him to leave me alone."

"Shh" Wade soothed her as he ran over to her and pulled her into his arms. "You didn't do anything wrong. You did what you should have. You protected yourself." They stood there like that for a long time before Wade pulled back and gazed into her eyes. "Zoe, is he dead?" he asked gently.

"I don't know" she answered. "I was too afraid to check."

"I'm going to do that now" he said as he moved away from her. "It's okay" he reassured her as he walked away. After a moment of looking George over he turned his gaze back to Zoe. "He has a pulse" he said solemnly.

"Thank God" she gasped in relief. "I thought-"

"What happened?" he interrupted. "I want you to tell me everything."

"He broke in the window" she said pointing to the shattered glass. "I came out and saw him. I tried to make him leave, he just wouldn't listen…"

"Then what?" Wade asked as he walked back over to her and placed his hand on her back reassuringly.

"He was talking crazy, and then he grabbed me. He kept saying all this stuff about how I was his, and he was going to show me how we'd be together."

"Dear God" Wade cringed. "If he wasn't already out cold…."

"I struggled with him, and I broke away and ran in the bathroom, but he caught up with me before I could close the door. He fought me to the ground."

Fought her to the ground? So that _was _what he was after. He _was_ going to hurt her like that. Thank God she was able to knock him out. As far as Wade was concerned he deserved a lot worse than that. "Then what?" he asked tearfully.

"I hit him over the head" she said through tears. "With the hammer you left in here, under the sink."

"I was going to fix this place up" he remembered.

"I never got around to getting it back to you" she shrugged. "I kind of forgot it was in here until I was lying on the ground and I needed it."

"I'm glad you used it" he said as he imagined what could have happened.

"I hit him really hard, Wade" she said frantically. "He hasn't moved."

"He isn't dead" he repeated reassuringly. "I think you just knocked him out."

"But what if it's worse than that?" she asked, her eyes wide with fear. "What if there's head trauma, he could still die. I could go to jail for murder."

"That is _not_ going to happen" Wade scoffed. "This was self-defense you didn't do anything wrong."

"What if no one believes me" she cried. "I mean, it's George. Everyone loves George."

"Not everyone" Wade said heatedly. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay? You ain't going to jail."

"You don't know that" she said as she stood to her feet. "I need to face this" she said as took a deep breath. "I have to tell them what happened. George needs an ambulance, and-"

"No" Wade said as he stood to his feet. "No, I'm not letting you get in trouble for this."

"It really isn't up to you" she said teary eyed.

"Where is it?" he asked urgently.

"Where is what?" she replied.

"The hammer, where is it?"

Zoe pointed to the corner of the room and Wade quickly ran toward it and began rubbing his hands on it.

"What are you doing?" Zoe asked, moving closer to him.

"Fingerprints" he answered. "We're gonna say I did this."

"What?" Zoe gasped. "Wade, no! I'm not going to let you-"

"Don't fight me on this!" he snapped. "I'm a bartender, no one but my drunk of a father is going to miss me if they put me away, but you-"

"That isn't true!" Zoe protested. "So many people care about you…Wade, why would you do this?"

"For you" he shrugged. "I'd do anything for you. I love you."

"And I love you" she cried. "I'm not letting you go down for something I did!"

"And I'm not letting you go down for protecting yourself" he yelled back. He took a collective breath before looking at her again. "Do you trust me?" he asked gently.

Zoe nodded in response, struggling not to cry again.

"Then let me handle this" he insisted. "I'm going to make sure everything's okay. I'm going to take care of this for you."

**Please Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

Zoe sighed as she looked at Wade. He looked so sincere, and she knew in that moment that he would take the blame for her if that was what she wanted. But, she also knew that she could never do that. "You can't" she said shaking her head. "You can't take care of this for me Wade."

"Please" Wade pleaded as tears filled his eyes. Wade felt like he needed to do something, something to help Zoe, something to take away her pain, something to atone for the fact that he wasn't there to protect her, and that not too long ago he had caused her a world of pain himself. He just couldn't help but think that if he hadn't cheated, Zoe wouldn't be in this position. She wouldn't be covered in bruises. She wouldn't be terrified, and hysterical. She wouldn't be in danger of going to prison.

"Wade, we can't run from this by lying" she sighed. "I've been doing enough of that lately." She was sick of all the pretending, and hiding, and lying. She was sick of pretending that she was okay when she wasn't, sick of hiding from everyone that George Tucker had been the one to beat her black and blue when he was, and sick of lying to herself that she wasn't head over heels in love with Wade Kinsella when she was- even if all of those truths hurt like hell she wanted to face them. The truth was the way she had been acting wasn't Zoe at all. She had always been brutally honest to a fault, and she wanted more than anything to just be herself again. The last thing she was going to do was let Wade go to prison for something she did. That would mean a lifetime of hiding from the truth. A lifetime of gut-wrenching guilt. And, it would mean that she would lose Wade Kinsella forever. That was a pain she couldn't even begin to process.

"Don't blame yourself for this" Wade scoffed. "God, Zoe this whole situation has just been so unfair to you."

"It has" she agreed sadly. "But I'm not going to let you lie for me."

The two stared at each other for a moment, the raw pain evident in both of their eyes. In the past few days alone they had been through more together than they ever had when they were dating. Undoubtedly, it had brought them closer. The connection they shared now was different. They knew more about each other. Wade knew that Zoe Hart was stronger than he ever realized, and he knew that he was crazier about her than he had ever realized, he knew that if she took him back he'd never let her go. Zoe knew that Wade loved her; she knew that he'd do anything to protect her, but most importantly, Zoe knew she could trust him. Both of them wanted to say something, anything to let the other know what they were feeling, but neither were able to. Finally Zoe broke the silence.

"George needs to go to the hospital" she said as she looked down at him on the floor, still unconscious. "We shouldn't wait any longer."

"I don't really care about Tucker" Wade scoffed. "In fact, a big part of me wants to finish the job for you, end his miserable life."

"Don't talk like that" Zoe replied. "We have enough on our plates without you going all homicidal on me."

Wade chuckled to himself. Only Zoe Hart would crack a joke at a time like this. That was what it was like between the two of them, they were always teasing each other and joking around because that was the effect they had on each other. They made each other happy, even when the situation they were in was desperate.

"I'm going to call 911 now" Zoe said as she stood to her feet. "And I'm not going to let you lie for me. I need to face this."

"Doc" Wade said desperately as he grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"Yeah?" she asked as her voice broke. Hearing Wade use his nickname for her made her feel like she was about to completely break down for sure.

"You ain't alone. Even if they do arrest you, even if this goes as bad is it possibly could, you ain't alone. You know that, right?"

"Yeah" she whispered, as tears rolled down her cheeks. She wanted to say more, but she knew if she stood there with him for another moment she'd lose the strength she needed to pick up the phone and make the call.

As Zoe walked away Wade thought for sure he was going to throw up. All he wanted was to make this okay for Zoe, but she wasn't going to let him do that. She was in a world of hurt and there was nothing he could do to fix it. But, worst of all he could lose her. He looked down at George and felt pure rage flow through his veins. "You son of a bitch" he snarled in disdain as he resisted the urge to wrap his hands around his neck. That was the last thing Zoe needed so he settled for punching her bathroom wall. It had been a while since he'd thrown a punch, even longer since he'd thrown a punch sober. Frankly, his hand hurt like hell afterwards, but he didn't really give a damn. The physical pain actually served as a welcome relief from the world of emotional pain he was in.

"They'll be here soon" Zoe said as she set the phone on the bathroom counter and sat down on the floor next to George.

"What are you doing?" Wade asked with a concerned edge in his voice. Zoe seemed to be acting normal again in the past few minutes, but he remembered how out of she was when he first found her. He was worried she didn't know what she was doing. Something like this would make even the most sane person lose their marbles a little bit.

"I'm a doctor" she answered, as if it explained everything. "You were right" she added as she placed her index and middle fingers against the side of his neck. "His pulse is strong."

"You don't have to do that" Wade scoffed.

"I took an oath Wade" Zoe answered, never looking away from George. "He needs medical attention."

Zoe was acting cold and clinical, as if everything about the situation was normal. Wade figured that it was probably a defense mechanism. She was distracting herself by going into doctor mode. He just wasn't sure if he should do anything to stop it. Maybe she could use a distraction.

"Pupils are uneven" she added as she lifted George's eyelids up with her fingers. "That's a sign of a concussion."

"I should think" Wade scoffed. "You wacked him over the head with a freaking hammer, you probably broke his skull."

"His breathing seems steady" Zoe continued, ignoring Wade's comment.

"Doc" Wade sighed as he kneeled next to her and placed his hand on her back. "Why are ya' doing this?"

"I'm a doctor" she repeated.

"Doc" Wade said softly as he turned her face towards his. "Why don't you go sit down for a minute, take a breather? The paramedics will take care of Tucker.

Zoe looked down at the floor as tears filled her eyes. "Because" she answered shakily. "Maybe I can do something to help him, maybe I can do something to fix this."

"No" Wade said sympathetically. "There's nothing you can do right now. Just relax."

"I can't Wade" she said as she finally broke down. "I'm scared" she said as she fell into his chest. Wade caught her and held her tight.

"Shh" he said softly as he rocked her gently. "You ain't got nothing to be scared of, everything's gonna be alright."

The two sat like that on the floor for what seemed like hours before they were finally interrupted by the door swinging open. Suddenly the room was filled with dozens of paramedics, police men.

Zoe recounted what happened to an officer, keeping it together for the most part. Everey few minutes she would steal a glance at Wade and he would nod reassuringly. That gave her what she needed to continue without breaking down.

Wade looked on as Zoe talked from a couple feet away and started to feel something that he didn't recognize. He was proud of her. He had never really been proud of anyone in his life, but he was proud of Zoe Hart. She was strong, and he knew that whatever came next everything would be okay. Because together they were strong and they could face this.

**Please Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

Wade paced the waiting room nervously waiting for news on how Tucker was doing. Admittedly, a big part of him didn't really give a damn if he was okay or not, but he knew his condition could make a world of difference for Zoe. If Tucker was dead or close to it, she could be in a lot more trouble than if he just had a little bump on the head.

"Wade!" Lemon called, frantically running towards him. "What in the world happened?"

"Lemon, what are you doing here?"

"I heard that George was here, is he okay?"

"I don't know yet" Wade shrugged as he sat in a nearby chair.

"And Zoe?" she asked with fear in her voice.

"They took Zoe into the station for questioning" he said as he rubbed is hands together nervously. "Lavon staid with her, but she asked me to hang out here until I got word on how he's doing."

"Zoe did this to him?" she asked as she took a collective breath. She was pissed, but she wasn't really sure who she was pissed at. On the one hand, if Zoe Hart had never blown into town she'd be happily married to George Tucker instead of waiting in an emergency room lobby to get news on if he were dead or not. But then again, maybe being happy with George was never in the cards in the first place. Maybe Zoe had saved her from becoming a battered woman herself. Besides, if George had ever raised a hand to her she would have torn him apart no questions asked, so she really couldn't blame Zoe for doing the same.

"George went after Zoe again" Wade explained with disdain in his voice. "She fought him off by hitting him over the head."

"Oh" Lemon sighed. She certainly couldn't blame the poor thing for defending herself. But, something about all of this still felt so completely unbelievable to her. How could the man she'd been with since high school have become so unrecognizable to her?

Her thoughts stopped in their tracks when she noticed the look on Wade's face. She had never seen him have a look quite like that in the whole time she had known him, except maybe the first time she saw him after his mama died. He looked so scared and lost.

"You okay?" she asked gently as she sat in the chair next to him.

"No" he scoffed softly. "I could lose her Lemon, for good this time."

"It was self-defense" she said comfortingly as she put her hand on his arm. "They can't keep her locked up too long for that."

"Well it might come down to her word against Golden Boy's" he sneered.

"_Our_ word" Lemon corrected. "I'll vouch for Zoe, and I know you will too."

"Thanks" Wade said appreciatively.

"So does everyone in Bluebell know about this now?" he cringed.

"No one really knows what's going on" Lemon answered. "Just that George is in the hospital everybody's really worried."

"Great" Wade scoffed. "They're going to think golden boy's the victim."

"Screw what people think" Lemon said throwing her hands in the air. "Less than a year ago everyone was talking about how I was the girl George left at the altar, no one thought I'd come back from that and I did. I got through it, and now I'm doing things with my life. Zoe will get through this too, you'll see."

"Yeah" Wade said softly, though it was clear he was still distressed. He knew Zoe was strong, but this would be nearly impossible for anyone to get through.

"I don't think your mind's going to be at ease until you're with Zoe Hart" Lemon chuckled. "Why don't you go back and be with her. I'll call you if there's any news on George."

"Really?" Wade asked. "You'd do that?"

"Of course" she scoffed. "I'd do anything to help you out. Besides, I'm not going to be able to sleep until I know that George is okay."

"You still got feelings for him?" Wade asked. He realized that he had been so focused on him and Zoe that he didn't even think about how Lemon must be feeling.

"No" she answered honestly. "But I _was _in love with him for half of my life. I can't just turn that off. I want him to live and be happy, even if it isn't with me."

For Lemon's sake Wade held back his knee-jerk response that George didn't deserve to be happy after what he did to Zoe. After a moment he came up with something gentler to say to her. "Even if George is okay physically, he has got a lot of problems he needs to take care of."

"I know that" Lemon agreed. "But I really hope he gets that chance."

"You going to be okay here by yourself?" he asked as he stood to his feet.

"Of course" she nodded. "Go get your girl."

"Thank you" he said sincerely.

Lemon watched Wade walk out the door and crossed her arms over her chest. She had forgotten what an odd combination of boring and nerve-wracking it was to wait on news about someone in a hospital. She picked up a fashion magazine from a nearby table to distract herself, but none of them dressed like she ever would. They dressed like… well, Zoe. If she wanted to see an array of skinny jeans, short shorts, and high heels she could just check out the good doctor's closet.

She closed her eyes for a moment and let her mind drift to all the good memories she had with George. Proms, and late night dates, and planning their lives together. She had come to terms with the fact that her and George were never going to be together, but is he died she'd be devastated. She couldn't help it, he was just too important to her for her to feel anyway else.

"Lemon" she heard a female voice yell. She jolted her eyes open and saw Tansy Truitt standing in front of her. "Is it true? Is George really here?"

"Yes" Lemon answered clearing her throat as she smoothed down her hair. "He has a head injury, but we still haven't heard word from the doctor."

"What happened!?" she asked urgently.

Lemon's face paled as she realized she'd have to be the one to break this to Tansy. She never really cared for the girl, especially after her and George got together, but she still didn't want to be the one to shatter her heart. "Zoe Hart hit him over the head" she admitted in as gentle of a voice as she could manage.

"What!?" Tansy gasped. "That crazy bitch!"

"Tansy" Lemon interrupted. "It was self-defense."

"What?" she asked as tears filled her eyes.

"He was attacking her" Lemon explained. "It wasn't the first time either. He smacked her around real bad a couple nights ago."

"No" Tansy scoffed. "No, I don't believe that at all."

"It's the truth" Lemon insisted. "He admitted it to me himself."

"No!" Tansy yelled. George was good. George was her soul mate. He wasn't bad like the other guys she had been with. He didn't cheat, he didn't lie, and he didn't steal. He'd never hit a woman. "You're lying! You're just as hateful as Zoe is!"

"Tansy" Lemon said firmly as she stood to at eye level with her. "I love him too, but I know that he did this."

"No" she cried. She was fighting it with everything in her, but she was starting to believe what Lemon was saying.

"I'm sorry" Lemon sighed. "It's the truth."

"But… what happens now?" she asked, her eyes wide with horror.

"We wait" Lemon shrugged. "Do you want to wait with me?"

"Yeah" Tansy said, at a loss for what else she could do. She sat in the seat next to Lemon and took a deep breath. "He really told you that he hit Zoe Hart?"

Lemon pursed her lips as she nodded her head. "He seemed sorry, but then he went and did it again so he couldn't have been too sorry."

"It just seems so unlike him" Tansy said in disbelief. "He _never_ hit me."

"Me either, and I was with him a lot longer than you were" she added snidely. "He said it was because Zoe made him so mad" she added in a more measured tone. "He said it was because he loved her so much. I called him out on trying to feed me a line of bull."

"Maybe it isn't" Tansy disagreed. "He's never raised a hand to anyone else but her. I mean, how else do you explain it? You and me both know how infuriating that woman can be."

"I think there has to be something wrong in a man's head to beat a woman. I just can't believe I could be with him for so long and never see that side of him. I guess I didn't really know him at all. It makes me wonder if I even knew myself."

"Well I know me and I know George" Tansy said angrily as she stood to her feet. "If he did this there's a reason and I'm not putting him on trial until I talk to him myself."

"Fine" Lemon muttered as Tansy stormed off. She wanted to be mad at her, but the truth was she understood all too well what Tansy was feeling. Denial was a hell of a lot easier than facing a problem head on, and this whole ordeal was pretty hard to process. She wasn't sure she'd believe that George had hit Zoe if she hadn't seen the evidence herself, and heard him confess to it. But, part of her was a little sad that Tansy took off. Even if the woman was insufferable, it was better than sitting by herself going crazy with her own thoughts. Just then she was met with the image of her best friend walking towards her.

"Annabeth" Lemon gasped. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"Wade called me. He said he thought you could use some company."

"You have no idea" she sighed. "It is so good to see you."

"How's George?" she asked nervously.

"No word yet" Lemon sighed.

"How are you?" she asked sympathetically as she took the seat next to her.

"I've been better" she admitted. "Do you know what's going on with Zoe?"

"Yes, I talked to Lavon a minute ago. They let Zoe go home for the night, she's with Wade."

"Good" Lemon nodded. "They'll take care of each other."

"And I'll take care of you" Annabeth added giving her a pat on the back. "Can I get you coffee?"

"Actually" Lemon smiled. "Coffee sounds perfect right now."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you sure you're okay with me staying here tonight?" Zoe asked nervously as Wade opened the door for her.

"I wouldn't let you stay anywhere else" he scoffed. "It seems like every time I take my eye off of you something terrible happens to you."

"Yeah" Zoe sighed. "I do have a way of getting myself into trouble."

"It's not your fault George hit you" Wade said firmly as he took her hand in his. They made eye contact and both of them could feel the intensity of the others feelings. Wade and Zoe always had a deep connection, but it seemed that through everything the connection had grown even stronger. At this point there was no point in denying what they felt for each other. However, both of them were too scared to say anything to the other.

"Thank you" Zoe said as she pulled her hand back. "I don't know what I would have done tonight if it weren't for you and Lavon."

"Of course" Wade said as he sat on his bed. "Zoe, I'd do anything for you. You know that."

"I do" she smiled as she sat next to him. "You were ready to take the fall for me."

"It just scares me so much when I think of losing you" he scoffed. "I love you."

"I know. I love you too" she whispered as she leaned in and slowly pressed her lips against hers. It started off as a slow, gentle kiss but quickly grew urgent. Zoe knew that the two of them could soon be torn apart and that was driving her desire. Her desire to be in his arms, to feel his lips on her, to love him.

Wade felt truly happy for the first time in months. He wasn't sure what this meant about their future, but he knew that in that moment Zoe was his, and that was enough for him. He quickly pulled his shirt off and shifted her so that she was under him.

As if on cue, Wade's cellphone began to ring. "Ignore it" she pleaded, whispering against her neck.

"That's my ringtone for Lemon" Wade explained as he got up quickly and grabbed it. "It must be news on George."

"Oh my God" Zoe gasped as all the color drained from her face.

Wade quickly picked up the phone and began talking to Lemon on the other line.

"Are… are you sure?" Wade asked as he nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Okay, um- thank you Lemon. I'll let her know."

"What?" Zoe asked as Wade hung up. "What is it? Is George okay?"

**Please Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

"Wade, is George okay?" Zoe repeated, her voice growing increasingly urgent.

Wade set the phone down and sat next to Zoe. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Now, I don't want you to be scared" he said softly.

"Oh God" she gasped, trying to hold back her tears. "I killed him? He's-"

"No" Wade interrupted quickly. "George is awake; he's going to be fine."

"Really?" Zoe asked as a smile spread across her face. "You're sure?"

"Yeah" Wade nodded.

"Oh thank God" she sighed.

"I know" he smiled.

"Why the hell did you scare me like that!?" she asked, hitting his arm.

"I didn't mean to" he chuckled. "I meant what I said, I don't want you to be afraid. George is awake, but I'm not letting him get to you this time. You're safe."

"I know" she said as she rested her head on his chest. "I've never felt so safe in my life."

Wade wrapped his arm around her body and pulled her even closer to himself. He loved that she was in his arms again, but she still felt like there was a lot they needed to say to each other before things went any further.

"Does this change anything?" she whispered as he pulled back and looked into his eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, it was one thing a minute ago when we thought I might be going to prison. But now… Do you think this is the best thing for us to do?"

"And by '_this_,' you mean sex?" Wade asked bluntly.

"Yeah" she giggled nervously. "I mean, things are still pretty up in the air between us. We still have a lot we haven't talked about."

"Zoe, I _really _don't want to talk right now" he joked.

"I'm serious" she said, unamused.

"Okay, I'm sorry" he chuckled. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Us" she shrugged. "I don't want this to be like before. If we have sex again I want it to mean something."

"Doc" he grinned. "We've always meant something to each other, you know that."

"I just don't want to lose you again" she admitted as she stood to her feet and walked away from the bed.

"Lose me?" Wade scoffed. "Why would you lose me?"

Zoe gave Wade a knowing look and it suddenly became clear to him what was going on. "You're afraid I'm going to cheat on you again?"

Zoe shrugged. And nervously bit her lip. "I guess I'm sort of having trust issues after everything that's happened these past few months."

"I get that" he said sympathetically as he stood near her. "I'd imagine that being cheated on, and getting smacked around would do that to a person."

"You've proven that you care about me, and I believe that, but I just don't know if I can handle having my heart broken again."

"I'm not going to do that" he whispered as he placed his hand on her arm. "Just give me a chance, I promise I'll make it worth it. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy."

"Yeah?" she asked insecurely.

"Yeah" he nodded. "I'm not going to hurt you again."

"But, what if-" Zoe lost her nerve and didn't finish her question as she took another step back from Wade.

"What if what?" he asked.

"What if you don't screw this up, but I do? I've made such a mess of everything these past few weeks."

"You didn't make a mess of nothing" he scoffed. "Baby, what George did to you is _not_ your fault."

"I know. But I thought I loved him, and then I made an ass of myself at that stupid prom. I was just so confused about what I wanted" she explained. "I thought there wasn't any hope for us, and I just felt so lost."

"And now?" he asked, turning her so she was facing him.

"Now I know" she admitted. "I want you."

"Then what are you waiting for?" he laughed.

"Nothing" she said with a crooked grin as she launched herself into his arms and kissed him. She quickly began to move him towards the bed, but he broke away and looked deep into her big, brown eyes. "You're sure you want this?" he asked gently, caressing a bruise on her face.

"Wade" she giggled as she playfully pulled her shirt over her head. "I _really _don't want to talk right now." Wade looked down uncomfortably and cleared his throat.

"What?" she asked self-consciously as she looked down at herself.

"You're black and blue everywhere" he scoffed. "It's even worse than before."

"Oh" she murmured.

"I want to kill him" he said angrily as he clenched his fists.

"Weren't we just celebrating a minute ago that he _wasn't_ dead?" Zoe asked as she slipped her shirt back on.

"I wasn't celebrating that bastard being alive" he sneered. "I was celebrating you not having to go to prison."

"Well don't do anything stupid" she warned. "_You_ going to prison isn't any good either. Don't you want to finally have the chance to be happy together?"

"Of course" he said as he moved closer to her and caressed her cheek.

"Then forget about George" she said wryly as she gave him a seductive look.

She pressed her lips against his neck, but then once again the two were interrupted, this time by the doorbell ringing.

"Ignore it" Wade mouthed at Zoe.

"It could be Lavon" she said as she pulled away and moved towards the door.

She soon discovered that it wasn't Lavon at all on the other side of the door. "Good evening" Sheriff Bill nodded.

"What do you want?" Wade asked impatiently. He had enough of police officers, and doctors, and really anyone who wasn't Zoe for the night.

"Wade!" Zoe scolded.

"I know y'all had a long night" the Sheriff said sympathetically. "I won't keep you long."

"What's is it?" Zoe asked nervously.

"I just wanted to let you know that George won't be pressing assault charges. I thought that might help put your mind at ease."

"Oh" Zoe sighed. "Well, that's good."

"He did ask if he could see you though" he added.

"No freaking way" Wade scoffed.

"Wade, it's okay" Zoe sighed.

"No it ain't!" he shouted in exasperation. "This is ridiculous. What about him? We should be talking about whether or not Zoe's pressing charges against him, not the other way around-"

"Wade" Zoe interrupted. "They asked me earlier if I wanted to press charges. I said no."

"What?" he asked angrily.

"I'm going to leave you two alone" Sheriff Bill interjected nervously. "Dr. Hart, I'm glad you're feeling better. No woman should have to go through what you've been through tonight."

"Thank you" she nodded as she closed the door behind him.

"Why aren't you pressing charges?" Wade asked as Zoe turned away from the door to face him.

"I just want this to be over" she explained. "I'll get a restraining order out against George. I'll be fine."

"Oh that's not true and you know it" Wade scoffed. "It's Bluebell, you're going to have to see him again."

"Then I'll move" she shrugged. "We can move. We can go anywhere we want."

"No" he said angrily. "I'm not letting George Tucker run us out of town. I want him locked up."

"They aren't going to lock him up for hitting me!" she yelled. "It's his first offense, he'll get a slap on the wrist."

"It's better than nothing" he scoffed.

"Wade" she begged. "Can we _please_ just figure this all out tomorrow? For tonight I just want to be with you."

Wade wasn't really sure what they needed to figure out. He was going to want her to press charges just as much in the morning, and there was no way in hell he was going to let her visit the bastard. But he looked at Zoe and saw how vulnerable and scared she looked and suddenly his desire for revenge seemed less important than his desire to comfort her. "Alright" he sighed. "Come here."

Zoe and Wade began kissing once again, and this time they were left uninterrupted and clothes were quickly discarded.

"Finally" Wade sighed as he pulled the blanket over both of their bodies. "I have been missing this for months."

**I'm definitely going to try to wrap this story up in the next four chapters or so. I hope to finish in the next few weeks! Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed, etc. especially those of you who have reviewed every or nearly every chapter. I absolutely love getting feedback! I'd also like to thank everyone who has read for suspending your disbelief. I know that the George in this story isn't the same as George on the show. Like I say in the description he is definitely occ. However, I have tried to keep some elements of his personality to make it a bit more realistic. This story was actually based on an odd dream I had, and I decided to write it down! That was where the first chapter came from and I really wasn't sure if it would materialize at all but I'm glad so many of you have enjoyed it!**

**Please Review and let me know what you thought of this chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

Zoe opened her eyes slowly. She was leaning her face on Wade's chest, and he was casually running his fingers through her hair. She never wanted to leave that spot in his bed. She was still exhausted, and it felt so good to be in his arms again. For the first time in a while she felt loved, and safe. However, she knew that she had to get up and face the day, no matter how terrifying that prospect seemed.

"Hey there" Wade croaked sleepily as he gazed down at her.

"Hey" she smiled. "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept real well" he chuckled. "I always sleep a lot better when I'm in the company of a gorgeous woman. How about you, how'd you sleep?"

"Better than I would have if I didn't know George was going to be okay" she sighed as she sat up in bed.

"That is quite the relief" Wade agreed. "We can spend every night like we did last night instead of having to wait for conjugal visits. Besides, I don't think orange is really your color, Doc."

"Definitely not" she agreed with a giggle. "But now that George is fine our lives can finally go back to normal."

"I wouldn't go that far. You're still all beat up. Every time I look at you I want to kill that bastard all over again."

"I know" she said sympathetically. "But everything's fine now."

"Everything is not fine" Wade scoffed. "You're still hurtin' and it's going to take a long time for you to heal."

"I didn't break any bones, there all surface wounds, it shouldn't take more than a few weeks-"

"That's not what I meant" Wade interrupted. "You still flinch when I reach out to touch you, you still startle whenever something makes a noise… You're still afraid."

"I'll get therapy" she said dismissively as she got out of bed and made her way towards the bathroom. "I'll be fine."

"Damn it Zoe" Wade muttered under his breath as he stood to his feet and followed her. "I don't think you're going to feel safe until he's behind bars, or at least out of Bluebell."

"Wade" she sighed. "I don't want to talk about that right now."

"Then when do you?" he asked impatiently.

"I don't know!" she snapped. "But, nothing's changed since last night. I still want to do whatever I have to do to end this as soon as possible."

Wade could see that pushing the issue wasn't going to do any good. This woman who he was ass-backwards in love with was still as stubborn as a mule, just like she always was. He wasn't going to be able to force her to see the truth. She'd have to discover that on her own. "Fine" he sighed.

"There is something I wanted to talk to you about though" she added nervously.

"What's that?" he asked.

"I want to see George."

"No freaking way" Wade answered quickly. Wade couldn't imagine any scenario where Zoe seeing George would be a good thing, and the last thing he wanted to do was give George another opportunity to put his hands on her.

"I want to hear what he has to say" Zoe explained. "And there are some things I want to say to him to."

"Like what?" Wade asked curiously.

"That I'm pissed at him" she answered. "That I want him to leave me alone."

"And you think that's going to work?" Wade scoffed. "The man broke into your house through a freaking window and tried to force himself on you, Zoe. He's gone postal."

"I want to understand why he did it" she sighed. "There are still so many blanks that I have to be filled in."

"Zoe, I don't want this jerk getting in your head again" Wade said as he moved closer to her. "He's going to blame you or come up with some other BS reason for all of this, and there's no reason you need to be listening to that."

"I just want some closure" she shrugged.

"I know, baby" he said sympathetically. "I just don't think you're going to find it this way."

Zoe thought about what Wade was saying, but she still felt like she needed something before she could move on. A reason why George hit her, some absolution that it wasn't her fault, or a guarantee that he wasn't going to do it again to her or some other woman "Just promise you'll think about it?" she asked as she blinked back tears.

"I'll _think_ about it" Wade sighed. "I'm going to take a shower" he added as he kissed the top of her head.

"Okay" she smiled. "I'll try to assemble some sort of breakfast out of what you have in your mini fridge."

"Good luck with that" he chuckled. "Pretty sure all that's in there is an old piece of pizza and beer."

"In that case maybe I'll stop by Lavon's" she giggled. "He should at least have eggs or something."

"Alright" he smirked. "See you later, beautiful."

"See you" she smiled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Good morning Z" Lavon smiled as he passed her in the kitchen.

"Hey Lavon" she smiled back. "How are you this morning?"

"Pretty good" he nodded. He saw that Zoe had a bowl in one hand and a whisk in the other and he suddenly became very nervous. "_You're_ cooking?" he asked as his eyes widened in horror.

"Yes" she answered happily. "Do you want some?"

"Just don't break anything" he pleaded.

"Ha ha" she said sarcastically as she began to beat the eggs.

Lavon laughed at her response, pleased that she seemed to be acting like her old self again, instead of the broken spirit he had seen the last time he was with her. "You seem happy" he commented.

"That's because I am" she responded with a wide grin.

"You and Wade?" he asked knowingly.

She nodded enthusiastically and poured the eggs into a pan. "We're back together."

"So you forgave him?" Lavon asked arching a brow.

Zoe thought about his question for a moment. She really hadn't made a conscious decision to forgive Wade, but in the midst of everything she was able to put his cheating in perspective. It was still painful when she thought about his betrayal, but since he took care of her that first night when George attacked her she had come to trust him more than she ever had. She truly believed him when he said the cheating was a mistake, and it wouldn't happen again. She trusted him with her mind, soul, and body. She knew he loved her, and he would never hurt her on purpose.

"We're going to try again" Zoe nodded.

"Well I'm happy for both of you" Lavon said. "Just keep the PDA to yourselves this time around."

"I can make no promises" Zoe giggled.

They both were interrupted by Annabeth making her way into the kitchen. Per usual, she had her brown hair quaffed perfectly and was wearing a bright colored dress. "Good morning" she said merrily as she joined them in the kitchen.

"Good morning" Zoe smiled back.

"Hey" Lavon grinned as he kissed the tip of Annabeth's nose.

"What was that you were _just _saying about PDA?" Zoe teased.

"This is my house" he answered.

"How are you doing?" Annabeth asked sympathetically, turning to Zoe. "I can't even imagine going through what happened to you last night."

"Z's just fine" Lavon chuckled. "She's in love."

"Oh?" Annabeth squealed. "Wade?"

Zoe nodded happily as she took the eggs off the stove. "Breakfast?" she asked Annabeth.

"I would love some" Annabeth nodded. "But first you have to tell me more about you and Wade, did you two hook up?"

"Ew!" Lavon protested. "I really don't want to hear about that."

"Then get lost! This is girl talk time" Annabeth said impatiently.

"Let's just say we're both happy" Zoe laughed as she handed Annabeth a plate. "Except…"

"Except what?" she asked wide-eyed, absorbing everything Zoe had to say. There was nothing Annabeth loved more than a juicy piece of gossip, except for maybe handing out advice to a girlfriend who needed it, and now she had the opportunity to do both.

"We're already kind of disagreeing about something" she explained.

"And what's that?" Annabeth asked, taking a bite of toast.

"George asked to see me, but Wade doesn't think it's a good idea."

"And you do?" Annabeth asked, surprised.

"I'm not sure" she shrugged. "It can't hurt to talk to him."

"Do you think you're ready for that?" Annabeth asked with concern in her voice. "Less than 12 hours ago you had to hit the man over the head with a hammer in self-defense."

"I think you should do it" Lavon chimed in.

"You do?" Zoe asked.

"I think it would be good for you to stand up to him" he explained. "He can't do anything to you while he's in a hospital bed, and Wade and I can stand right outside the door in case you need us. This could be your chance to get everything off your chest."

Zoe nodded in response, appreciative that someone was finally seeing her point of view. A part of her really needed to be able to stand up to him if she was going to move on with her life.

"I can talk to Wade if you want" Lavon offered.

"Yeah" Zoe answered. "Thank you, that'd be great."

"Problem solved" Annabeth smiled. "Now you and Wade don't have anything to argue about. You'll tell off George and then you and Wade can ride off into the sunset together like you deserve."

"Yeah, except that isn't the only thing we're arguing about" she added. "Wade still wants me to press charges."

"You aren't pressing charges?" Annabeth gasped. "Why on earth wouldn't you?"

"I don't know" Zoe said sarcastically. "For some reason prolonging the worst experience of my entire life doesn't sound very appealing to me."

"Zoe, I don't think you should let him-"

"Hey" Lavon interrupted, nudging Annabeth. "Just leave her be. I think seeing George will put a lot in perspective for her."

Annabeth nodded at him knowingly before turning back to Zoe. "It is your decision" she said, trying to sound supportive.

"Thank you" Zoe replied. "I just wish Wade saw it that way."

"Did I hear my name?" Wade asked as he swung the door open and made his way near where Zoe was sitting.

"You did" Zoe smiled. "I was just explaining everything to Lavon and Annabeth, and Lavon thinks I should see George."

"He does?" Wade asked through gritted teeth as he scowled at him.

"With both of us there" Lavon added. "We won't let him hurt her."

"But what's the point?" he scoffed.

"I think getting the chance to face him would go for her" he shrugged.

"Alright, alright" Wade shrugged. "We can go visit Tucker, but if he tries anything-"

"We'll leave" Zoe finished. "I just want to talk to him."

"Okay" Wade nodded as he stood to his feet. "Let's go to the hospital."

**Please Review!**


	14. Chapter 14

Zoe made her way down the cold, sterile hospital hand in hand with Wade, as Lavon walked a couple feet behind them. She had to steady her breathing when George's name on the door of his room caught her eye. The whole situation suddenly felt very real all over again. This was far from the first time she had been in a hospital, but she was used to being the one who helped patients heal, not the one who put them in the hospital in the first place. "I guess I should just go in" Zoe said, turning to look at Lavon nervously.

"You don't have to" Wade said giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "We can turn right around and go home; you don't have to see Tucker just because he wants you to."

"I know" Zoe nodded. "That isn't why I'm doing this."

"We're going to be right here" Lavon reminded both of them. "Everything will be alright."

"Thank you" Zoe said with an appreciative smile. "Both of you."

She immediately turned and pushed the door open, knowing that if she stood there a second longer she'd loose her nerve.

Lavon noticed Wade cringe as Zoe disappeared out of site, so he quickly changed the subject to take his mind off of the situation. "It looks like you and Zoe worked everything out."

"Yeah" he sighed. "We're getting there."

"You happy?"

"Of course" Wade scoffed. "I'm sleeping with Zoe Hart. What man wouldn't be happy?"

"Well I'd give you the best friend talk about coming after you if you ever hurt her again, but that's not really my style, and I doubt you'd be that stupid ever again anyway."

"Definitely not" Wade sighed. "I don't think I could handle losing her again. I know I couldn't handle watching her go through something like this again."

"She'll get better" Lavon nodded. "Zoe's stronger than she seems, plus she has me, and you to help her."

"I just hate that she's in there with him" Wade groaned. "She shouldn't be here; she should be at home with me."

"This is what she wanted" Lavon reminded him.

"I know that" Wade scoffed. "That woman is as stubborn as a mule."

"And she's smart" Lavon added. "She knows what's best for her."

"I guess" Wade shrugged.

"Besides, you have the rest of your life to be at home with Zoe."

"Yeah" Wade said trying to contain his grin. "I think the worst is over, you know? I think things should be pretty good from here on out."

"Yeah" Lavon nodded. "I mean, it might take some time but I think you're right. After Zoe faces George, it should all be uphill from here."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey George" Zoe announced as she walked into the room. She decided to make the exchange as quick as possible like ripping a band-aid off. She didn't really expect to have such a strong physical reaction to seeing him. She felt hot, and shaky, and nauseated. She was fairly certain her body was having a physiological fight or flight response to being in the same room with the man who had beaten her senseless, and her choice was to fight. It was definitely to fight. She had to face him if she didn't she'd never respect herself again. She'd always wonder "what if?"

"Zoe" George said excitedly as he sat up in his bed. "Whoa, I didn't expect you to actually show up. What are you doing here?"

"You said you wanted to talk to me" she shrugged as she pulled over a nearby chair. "So talk."

"Right" he said scratching the back of his head nervously. "I just wanted the have the chance to apologize… again. I honestly have no idea how I let myself lose control like that again. I've just been having a really hard time lately, and I kind of lost my mind a little bit with everything that's been happening-"

"Are you getting help?" Zoe interrupted.

"Help?" George asked as a look of confusion spread across his face. "What do you mean?"

"Psychiatric help…so you won't lose control next time."

"You think I'm crazy?" George scoffed.

"I think you've attacked me twice, and I know that isn't like you. Obviously something is wrong." Zoe paused for a moment when the realization hit her that she was not using the voice she usually did while speaking to patients, she was using her clinical voice that she used with patients. Patients who were sick, and confused. She realized she wasn't confronting him, she was trying to fix him.

"I get that I screwed up" George replied irritably. "But come on, you share some of the blame here to, if you never-"

"I messed up showing up at that prom" Zoe conceded. "And I probably shouldn't have even shared my feelings with you in the first place, but you need to stop making excuses for yourself." Even though George wasn't saying anything to her that she hadn't already said to herself she began to feel angry…really angry. When George beat her he took her control away, but she wasn't going to let him do that this time. She wasn't going to let him talk her into blaming herself for this again.

"I promise it will never happen again" George pleaded.

"You said that last time" Zoe said dryly. "I ended up having to fight you off with a hammer."

"Things got out of hand" George mumbled.

"Out of hand?" Zoe scoffed loudly.

"I never meant for it to happen."

"You aren't sorry" Zoe yelled as the realization hit her.

"I am" George disagreed. "I just think that we should both move on with our lives."

"I tried to!" she said as her voice cracked. "You wouldn't leave me alone."

"I will now, I promise. This has all been a real wake-up call for me. Tansy and I are getting back together, we're going to leave Bluebell just like she wanted to."

Zoe's blood ran cold when she heard this. She had never cared much for Tansy, but the thought of George being alone with her scared the hell out of her. She realized that even if he wasn't getting back together with Tansy, it'd be some other girl. That was the opportunity she was giving him by sweeping this under the rug.

"You and Wade back together?" he asked nervously.

"That really isn't any of your business" she said coldly.

"You deserve better" he said softly.

"Wade is a good man" Zoe said defensively.

"Yeah, okay" George scoffed.

"He's ten times the man you'll ever be!" she yelled as her anger finally overtook her completely. "We're going to be very happy together like we deserve, and you… you're going to jail." With that she stormed out of the room and down the hallway like a madwoman.

"Whoa" Wade called out as he ran after her. "What happened? Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine" she said biting down on her quivering lower lip. She felt like crying, but not because she was feeling sad. She was just feeling too many things at once. She was exhilarated, and pissed off, and in a weird way free. She finally "got it through her thick skull" as Wade would say that George was messed up. She wasn't perfect, but she was nowhere near as wrong as he was for raising a hand to her. She was out of the denial stage of dealing with this, and plunging straight into anger.

"What happened?" Lavon asked.

"A whole lot of nothing" she shrugged. "He tried to blame me."

"What a load of BS" Wade scoffed angrily.

"I want to press charges" Zoe said confidentially as she took a steadying breath.

"Yeah?" Wade asked.

"Yeah" she confirmed. "I don't want him to do this to someone else. If he isn't going to get help for himself than I'm going to do it for him."

"That's very brave of you, Z" Lavon said as he kissed the top of her head. "You're sure this is what you want."

"I'm sure" she nodded. "Definitely. Let's go to the police station."

"Sounds good to me" Lavon shrugged. "But do you mind if we stop in the cafeteria first? I'm kind of hungry."

"Now that you mention it so am I" Zoe said with a slight giggle. Lavon and Wade were both pleased to see that her mood had already lightened so much.

"Come on Wade" Lavon motioned as him and Zoe began to walk away.

"You two go ahead" Wade shrugged. "I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll catch up with you."

"Okay" Zoe smiled. "See you."

Wade made sure that Lavon and Zoe were out of sight before turning around and marching straight towards George's room. He was relieved that Zoe was pressing charges, but somehow that wasn't enough for him. He wanted a little justice of his own, and this was his chance to get it.

**Please Review! Sorry for the hold up on this and my other stories, I've been crazy busy lately! I'm going to try to update Until You super soon!**


	15. Chapter 15

"I can't wait until all of this is over" Zoe sighed as she pulled her seat closer to the table she and Lavon were sitting at.

"I know" he said sympathetically. "It will be soon. One day all of this will just be a bad memory."

"A really bad memory" Zoe scoffed. Just then she caught the image of Tansy Truitt out of the corner of her eye.

Tansy gaped at Zoe in horror, a big part of her still didn't believe what everyone was saying, but seeing Zoe's bruises made the reality inescapable.

"Oh no" Zoe sighed when she noticed Tansy making her way towards the two of them. Her horribly unpleasant exchange with Tansy at that stupid prom was what started the whole unpleasant chain of events, and the last thing she wanted was to go for round two.

"What are the two of you doing here?" Tansy asked with an edge in her voice.

"George wanted to see Zoe" Lavon answered quickly, coming to Zoe's defense.

"We're not staying" Zoe shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

"That's probably for the best" Tansy said coldly. "But for what it's worth… I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Zoe asked.

"_Someone _obviously smacked you around. I'm sorry that happened to you."

"It wasn't 'someone'" Zoe scoffed. "It was George."

"I'm just not sure what I believe" Tansy said awkwardly. She had been furious with Zoe, but something about seeing her in the flesh made the entire situation seem different. Zoe was hurt, and even if she was a huge thorn in her side Tansy wasn't going to kick her when she was down.

"You need to stay away from him" Zoe warned. "He's dangerous. He's not the same George as he was before. He's different. He just… snapped."

"Well that isn't hard to understand" Tansy scoffed. "You can be pretty frustrating."

"You're blaming her?" Lavon asked in a state of shock.

"It's okay" Zoe said, placing her hand on Lavon's. "Let's just go." It upset her a little bit that Tansy was being so cold, but at the same time she understood what was happening. Tansy loved George, and she hated her. If she was in her position she'd probably be tempted to blame everything on her too.

"She's going to get herself hurt if she stays with him" he said through gritted teeth.

"No she won't" Zoe whispered. "That's why I'm pressing charges." Even if Tansy didn't know it, Zoe was doing her the biggest favor of her life. She was keeping her away from George. Tansy wouldn't have to find out the hard way just how cruel George could get when he was angry.

"I have to get going" Tansy said, interrupting the hushed conversation between Zoe and Lavon. "Zoe" she added, trying her best to sound cheerful. "I wish you the best."

"You too Tansy" Zoe nodded. As she watched her walk away she felt a knot in her stomach. She wished that everything had gone down differently. A small part of her still wondered what would have happened if she never told George how she felt. Would he have ended up hurting her too or would they have gotten their happily ever after?

Lavon could see that Zoe was upset about something so he tried his best to interrupt her train of thought. "Hey" he said nudging her arm. "Let's go find that man of yours."

"Yeah, okay" Zoe said as she cleared her throat. "I actually think that's a really great idea."

"Then let's get to it" he said as he stood to his feet and offered his hand to her.

Zoe smiled at Lavon as she took his hand. "You really are my best friend" she reminded them as they walked out together.

"I know that" he chuckled. "Why the hell else do you think I would put up with all of your craziness?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey Tucker" Wade sneered as he flung the door to his hospital room open.

"Wade" George gasped. "I didn't think you were going to-"

"Give you the ass-whopping you deserve?" Wade asked angrily. "You thought wrong."

"You weren't there, you don't even don't know what happened" George scoffed.

"I don't care what happened!" he yelled as he lost his composure and started to break down. "I've seen the bruises, I know what you did to her!"

"I never meant to hurt her" George answered as tears filled his eyes.

"Bull! If you never meant to hurt her, you shouldn't have put your hands on her!"

"Where the hell do you get off acting all innocent?" George shouted. "None of this would have happened if you didn't sleep with that random bar slut!"

"You're blaming me for this?" Wade seethed, barely able to contain himself.

"You know she wasn't exactly innocent in this whole thing either" George added petulantly.

Wade didn't think it was possible for him to get any angrier, but George had just proven him wrong. He was officially more pissed off than he had ever been in his life. "You know what?" he asked as he struggled to steady his breathing. "It was really dumb of me to come here in the first place. I wanted to let you know just how big of a scumbag I think you are, but I should have known that talking to you would make me want to kill you."

"You're going to kill me, Wade?" George asked in a voice that seemed disturbingly calm. Wade wasn't sure if George had completely lost his mind or if he actually wanted to die, but either way he didn't care his answer was the same.

Wade felt disgusted as he looked George over his knuckles were bloodied from where he had punched his girlfriend, his head was bandaged from where Zoe had to hit him over the head so he wouldn't hurt her even worse, and that bastard still had a smug grin on his face.

"No George" he scoffed. "I ain't going kill you. I'm going to do something much worse than that. I'm going to let you live.

"What?" George scoffed.

"I'm going to let you live" he repeated. "You aren't going to have much of a life anyway. With the way you've been acting it won't take too long until you're rotting in prison. And it doesn't really make a difference to me anyway because I'm going home with Zoe Hart, and she's the best girl in the world."

George didn't expect anything Wade Kinsella said to have an effect on him, but that really cut deep because he knew he was right. Zoe was going to be with Wade now, and he had lost her forever. "Shut up Wade" George said under his breath.

"No, I ain't going to shut up, Tucker" Wade taunted. "Because everyone's finally getting what they deserve." With that he started to walk away, but for some strange reason George wanted him to stay. He wanted to find something else to say to him. He didn't want Wade to get the last word. He didn't want things to be the way they were.

"Wade" he called out desperately, but his plead was ignored. "Wade!" he yelled even louder, but again his call went unanswered. And then Wade was gone, and he was alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey" Zoe said as her and Lavon walked up to Wade, completely oblivious to the exchange he had with George.

"Hey you" Wade answered, a smile lighting up his face as soon as he saw her.

"Ugh, would you two tone it down?" Lavon asked with a look of disgust on his face. "I'd really like to keep that muffin from the cafeteria down."

The three of them then noticed a familiar spunky blonde making her way down the hall."Wade, Zoe, Lavon" Lemon nodded as she approached them.

"Lemon, you've been here this whole time?" Wade asked in surprise.

"No. I left and came back. There's actually something I need to give Zoe."

Zoe was at a complete loss as to what Lemon could be talking too and gave her a confused look.

"This is a text message George sent me after he found out about me and… Lavon" she answered as she spared him a short glance.

"Oh my God" Zoe gasped when she saw it. "He threatened to kill you?"

"What?" Wade asked angrily.

Lavon just stood silent, wearing a blank expression.

"I didn't think he was serious at the time" she added. "I thought he was just being over dramatic, or using it as an expression or something… I tried my best to forget all about it. Then last night I was sitting here and I remembered it. I thought maybe it could help you out if you needed evidence that George is a maniac or anything."

"Lemon, I don't know what to say" Zoe said touched by the gesture. "Thank you. It means a lot to me that you want to help."

"It's like I said before no one deserves what you went through" Lemon answered. "I'm glad I could help."

"Lemon-" Lavon said almost in a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have-"

"I know" Lemon nodded sadly. "But I made the choices that I made and now things are the way the way they are. Tell Annabeth I said hi." She quickly walked away, hoping that none of them noticed the tear that had escaped from her eye.

"You know" Wade whispered in Zoe's ear. "I think that might have been Lemon's way of saying she likes you."

"Yeah" she whispered back, still trying to interpret exactly what the interaction between Lavon and Lemon meant. "I have to admit. I kind of like her too."

"Well" Lavon said clearing his throat. "Let's get out of this hellhole."

"That sounds like the best idea I've heard all day" Wade answered.

"We just need to make one quick stop first" Zoe added.

"Where's that, Z?" Lavon asked.

"The police station."

**Sorry this took so long, I've been crazy busy. I could list of a million reasons how I've been busy, but the two main reasons are that I'm finishing up my Associate's Degree this summer, and I'm trying to get everything together to transfer. Anyway, I hope things slowdown in the next few weeks! I'm either going to do one more chapter and then an epilogue or just do the epilogue. I haven't decided yet… But, I have two surprises planned that I think everyone will love. Anyway please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter!**

**Oh, and I'm totally going to try to update Until You too. I'm so, so sorry for the delay with that, I'm having a little bit of writers block :p**


	16. Chapter 16

**One Year Later**

"What's taking you so long" Wade called out to Zoe over his shoulder as he opened the door to their apartment.

"I'm going as fast as I can" a very pregnant Zoe answered, waddling behind him.

"How ya doin'?" he said sympathetically, putting his hand on her back once they both made it inside.

"Okay" she smiled. "That doctor's appointment was actually kind of fun. I think this is the clearest sonogram picture we've gotten so far."

"Hopefully the last one before she comes" he said with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Tell me about it" Zoe groaned. "I can't wait to be able to last twenty minutes without peeing again."

Wade grinned and reflected on how great his life was. Everything had finally worked out for him. Zoe was safe, and she was his, and soon he'd have a daughter. That scared the hell out of him, but also made him happier than he ever had been. He knew one thing for sure, he was going to keep his girls safe. George Tucker wasn't getting anywhere near either of them.

"I bet this little one's debut will be an exciting one" Wade said fondly. "Everyone in town is looking forward to meeting her."

"Yeah, Annabeth's been working on that baby blanket since she found out I was pregnant,but I still don't think she's finished it."

"Well I think she probably put the sewing on hold for her wedding."

"Probably" Zoe nodded. "I just think its sweet that she thought to do it in the first place. Someone's actually sewing a baby blanket for _our _baby."

"And Lemon agreed to throw you a shower at the Rammer Jammer" he added.

"Yeah" Zoe nodded. "It's weird these past few months she's been a hell of a lot nicer to me."

"That's because she likes you" Wade shrugged.

"Well, she still isn't nice all of the time" Zoe corrected.

"Well _that's_ because she's Lemon" Wade chuckled. "She ain't nice to nobody all of the time."

"I don't know. She's been pretty friendly to Jesse lately" Zoe said wryly.

"I guess" Wade said uncomfortably.

"She told me they're talking about moving into together."

"She told you that?" Wade asked, taken aback.

"Yeah" Zoe shrugged. "Why?"

"Nothing" he said shaking his head. "It's just… if I didn't know any better I'd say you have yourself a couple of girlfriends."

"I think your right" Zoe said proudly. She had never really had girlfriends before and it felt nice. "Lavon's will always be my best friend though" she added fondly as she made her way to their kitchen. "What do you want for lunch?"

"No, no, no" Wade said, taking her by the hand and leading her to a chair. "I'll run out and get us something. Pizza sound good?"

"No" Zoe said with a look of distaste on her face. "I want… subs."

"Okay" Wade shrugged. "What kind?"

"Bologna. With pickles. Oh- and bacon."

"Whatever floats your boat" Wade chuckled, kissing her face, and then her belly. "I'll be back in a few. Love you."

"Love you" Zoe smiled in return as she watched him walk away. She pulled the sonogram out of her purse and smiled, while placing her hand on her belly. "Hear that, Allie? Daddy loves us." She could barely contain her excitement as she thought about what it would be like when her baby actually came. However, her train of thought was interrupted with the chime of the doorbell so she quickly eased herself out of the chair.

"Now who could that be?" she asked in a high pitched voice, looking down at the baby. "Aunt Annabeth and Uncle Lavon stopping by for a visit? Or Maybe Daddy forgot something…"

She smiled expectantly as she pushed the door open, but quickly stopped in her tracks when she processed who was looking back at her.

"Tansy?" Zoe asked, the surprise evident in her voice.

"Hey" Tansy said nervously. "Can I come in?"

"Sure" Zoe said, holding the door open and taking a step back.

"You're pregnant?" Tansy asked as she looked Zoe over.

"Very" Zoe groaned. "I'm due any day now."

"Congratulations" Tansy said, looking at the floor. "You know it's funny, I always thought it'd be me pregnant with Wade's baby."

"Right" Zoe replied, unsure of what else to say. What could she say to that?

"Have you seen George lately?" Tansy asked, her gaze still fixed on the floor.

"No, not since court. I have a restraining order against him."

"Of course" Tansy said as she took a deep breath. "I knew that."

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't even know" Tansy shrugged. "I didn't know how else to bring him up to you."

"Why do you need to bring him up?" Zoe asked uncomfortably.

"Because I owe you one hell of an apology" Tansy said as tears filled her eyes. "I didn't believe what you said about George, and I was so _awful_ to you…"

"It's water under the bridge" Zoe interrupted. "Everything that happened between us- I mean- I wasn't blameless either."

"But you didn't deserve to be beaten up" Tansy scoffed.

"No I didn't" Zoe agreed. "And I see that now."

"And I see that you're telling the truth" Tansy added. "George Tucker's no good."

"What changed?" Zoe asked fearfully. "Did he hit you too?"

"No" Tansy said shaking her head. "He just admitted what he did. It took a lot of time and a lot of therapy but he finally admitted it to me."

"So you two aren't together anymore?"

"No, we both agreed that he needed more time before he could be in a relationship with anyone."

"I think that was probably a good idea" Zoe agreed.

"I'm glad you and Wade are happy" Tansy smiled.

"Thank you" Zoe nodded.

"Nothing more fun that having a baby with someone you love" she said as her voice broke.

"Hey" Zoe said softly, placing her hand on her arm. "It will happen for you too."

"We'll see" Tansy shrugged. "But it won't be with Wade or George."

"No" Zoe agreed. "It will be with the man you're supposed to be with. And when you meet him, Wade and I better be invented to the wedding."

"For sure" Tansy smiled as she made her way back to the door. "Good luck with the baby."

"Goodbye" Zoe answered. As she watched Tansy walk away a feeling that she hadn't felt in a very long time took over her. Not only did she feel happy, but she also felt safe. For the first time since that prom the entire situation with George was over, and some good had actually come out of it. She had Wade back, and had a better idea of how strong she really could be if she needed to, and now she was going to be a mom. Her life was about to become better than it ever had been. She finally had everything she deserved.

**The End**

**Please Review!**


End file.
